You Know Legends Never Die
by Allexis Writes
Summary: After the truth of her father's past comes into the light, Anslee Dawes-Wayne's life was flipped upside down. Fast forward 5 years and there's a new villain running Gotham, The Joker. Will Bruce Wayne be able to handle life as Batman while also balancing his daughter's last year in Gotham along with the threat of the Joker?
1. Prologue

The reprieve from Scarecrow's attack on Gotham City had been short lived, at least it had seemed like that to Anslee Dawes. Her mother, Rachel, had merely been only one of the many victims who had to endure the effects of the so called 'fear toxin'. Although, Rachel had been acting weird before that had ever happened. Since a man named Bruce Wayne had returned to Gotham after a supposed leave of absence. From what she had gathered, he just up and disappeared, even presumed dead at one point. But, what was it her business, she was just a normal twelve-year-old girl living the normal single parent life, life couldn't get any more typical for her. That all changed though, the day after the attack on the city. A cloud of silence hung through the apartment of Rachel and Anslee that day, Rachel looked and acted if she had something on her mind, but her child didn't want to ask figuring if her mother wanted her to know, she'd tell her. Anslee sat at their kitchen table scanning over the cover of the Gotham Gazette, a new vigilante going by the name "Batman" had decided to take a mantel to protect the city. Boring, superheroes were for children. She had turned the page and a certain article caught her eye. "Drunken Billionaire Bruce Wayne Burns Down Manor," the young girl read out loud as she scanned the picture of the completely incinerated manor. She skimmed over the article before looking over at Rachel. She was hunched over their kitchen counter, her usual morning cup of coffee in her hand, but she wasn't drinking it. The girl looked back at the article before she realized something, "Didn't you tell me that your mom used to work for the Waynes, before the whole, you know, accident?" the brunette asked looking at her mother. A moment of silence was shared between the two. The twelve-year-old girl looked at Rachel, almost worried she was in some sort of catatonic state. That was until Rachel let out the breath she had been holding in. Rachel still hadn't answered her, just turned her head and looked at her daughter. Silence still lingered before Rachel left her place at the counter and joined her daughter at the table, a small subtle smile curled on her lips as she looked at Anslee.

"You look like him you know?" Rachel asked, a sweet and almost conspicuous tone on her lips.

The brunette girl raised an eyebrow, puzzled at the woman's statement, "Look like who?"

Rachel looked at the table for a second, looking for the right words to say in order to not upset her daughter. She looked back up at the girl, in the same dark brown eyes she'd gazed into all her life, "Like your father."

The statement had thrown her off, moments earlier Anslee was talking about Bruce Wayne burning down his own mansion and then how her grandmother had once worked for the Wayne's and then it was turned to...to this, "What made you think of that?" Ans tilted her head.

Rachel paused once more, inhaling and exhaling deeply before answering a question the twelve-year-old had been waiting to get answered all her life, "Because you were just talking about him."

That answer hit the girl right in the hard, she couldn't completely comprehend that statement. She frowned, dropping her jaw slightly, "You mean…" but her voice trailed off before she came to realization, "Oh my god, it all makes sense now."


	2. 5 Years Later

Five Years Later.

Rain and deep, dark gray clouds was the weather that graced Gotham's presence, but in all honesty, what was new? The city was always gloomy and depressing. But that wasn't stopping Anslee Wayne-Dawes from trying to make the best out of her last one and a half years in Gotham before she'd be leaving the city for college.

Ans had just gotten out of Gotham North High School, she had found herself at the place after school more and more these days ever since her best friend, Jenni, had coaxed her into joining the varsity dance team, as if the time they spent after school at their dance studio they'd been going to since they were around four years old wasn't enough to keep them on their toes. Anslee's plans for her Friday night were looming in her mind as she walked down the cold street on her way to her mother's office. Although, she wasn't sure why she even thought about the night, she knew that Rachel wasn't going to have a very great day in general and the mother was going to ask the teenager to stay with her for the night before she was shipped off to her father's for the weekend. Anslee continued her walk down the street, a familiar route she'd taken more times than she could count, before she felt her cellphone buzz in her pocket. The brunette stopped to pull it out before seeing a picture of her mother and herself when she was a young girl lighting up the screen, Ans smiled to herself before she swiped right on the screen to answer the call.

"Hi you've reached a stranger's cell phone, this is Anslee speaking how may I help you?" The seventeen-year-old smirked as she continued to walk down the street holding the phone to her ear.

"Haha very funny," Rachel's voice rang out, Anslee could practically see the woman rolling her eyes, "On another note, I was calling to ask you where you were, it's almost eight and you aren't here, are you ok? Did something happen?"

Ans wasn't surprised when the protective mother voice came through the phone, she didn't blame her because of how dangerous the streets of the city were. Anslee breathed a chuckle before answering, "Yes, I'm fine, about five minutes away from the building now. Practice got out at seven thirty and I just had to stay after for a few minutes to discuss a scholarship opportunity I can possibly sign up for, with my coach," she spoke as she rounded a corner her mother's office building on sight.

"Scholarships? You didn't think to consult me or your father about it? Maybe at least tell us about it?" Rachel asked.

"You, yes, him, not so much," Anslee responded as she adjusted her backpack strap on her shoulder, "why does it concern him anyways, never, not once has he ever asked me about where I was thinking for college, asked me what I want to major or minor is, let alone mutter more than fifty words to me whenever I'm over there every other weekend."

Ans heard Rachel sigh on the other end, "Lee, he's your father, he loves and cares about you, and I'm sure if you brought it up with him he'd be more than willing to listen to you talk about it."

"Yeah, that'll happen as soon as Jonathan Crane stops being a sociopath. Anyways, I'm in front of the building and I'm about to walk in, we'll talk when I get up to your office," Anslee spoke.

"I'll see you in a few minutes," Rachel spoke before the line went dead. Anslee strolled into her mother's work building, heading to the elevator, pressing the up button and waiting. She had her cell phone in her hand, gazing at the screen, trying to preoccupy herself while she waited for the elevator door to open. As she waited she heard footsteps in the room, it had been nearly abandoned besides the receptionist and the security guard, they were coming towards her. She had learned to ignore the people in her mother's office. But this particular person she couldn't quite ignore.


	3. Bossman and Mob Banks

"Anslee? Of course it's you, you're the only teenager who would be here, especially during after school hours," the voice of Harvey Dent, her mother's boyfriend, spoke from behind her.

Anslee turned around and gave Harvey a smile, she actually didn't have a problem with Harvey. The man wasn't like other guys her mother has dated in the past. Harvey actually interacted with her and wanted to include her in some of the things he took Rachel to do.

"Hey, Harvey, didn't expect to see you down here, more like upstairs in your office doing something important," she laughed, putting her phone back in her back pocket.

"Had to run over to the courthouse, drop off a few files of mine and your mom asked me to drop off a few of hers as well, just so happened to run into you now since I just got back," he explained before the elevator dinged and the door opened. Anslee walked in, followed by the blonde man.

"My mom called me right before I got in here, she sounded stressed, anything been going on that she isn't telling me about?" She questioned as she pressed the button for the fourth floor.

"Bossman's been on her all day about Maroni and Falcone and our upcoming case," he answered.

"Falcone and Maroni? Falcone's been in Arkham ever since Crane put him in there to be his little lab rat, and what has Maroni been up to?" she asked looking over at the man, her eyebrow raised.

"It's been believed that Maroni has been taking over Falcone's so called business, operations, whatever you want to call it, even after five years," Harvey looked at Anslee.

She shook her head and rolled her eyes, "It's ridiculous how people do the things they do, especially when it comes to these big crime bosses, they think they can just go around doing whatever they want because almost everyone in this city is too scared or corrupt to do anything about it."

Harvey put his arm around the girl's shoulder, "I know what you mean and I ask the same questions. And believe me when I say you sound exactly like Rachel when you say it like that." He smirked.

Anslee snickered before the door opened, "I'm wondering if I should be worried about that or not." She spoke before stepping out of the elevator and headed towards her mother's office, followed by Harvey. She heard a chuckle come from Harvey at her statement. Anslee glanced back at him with a chuckle back before she looked forward again, knowing her mother's office was just ahead. But she stopped walking towards Rachel's office, her smile fading, when she heard shouting coming from behind the closed office glass door. A male, who presumably was her mother's boss, and then a female, of course belonging to Rachel.

Ans heard Harvey sigh behind her before he walked past her, it's been like this all day, they've been at each other's throats since your mom walked in here at eight AM," he groaned, "let me take care of this, just stay out here, you can come in when he leaves the room."

Harvey entered the office and the shouting ceased, Anslee couldn't hear much, for Harvey was coaxing the two to calm down in a subtle voice. Thirty seconds had passed before a man walked out of Rachel's office, and Anslee took that as her cue to enter. Upon entering her mother's office, she could tell that it was tense. But nonetheless, Rachel smiled seeing her child.

"Hi mom," Ans smiled back at her as she set her backpack down in one of the chairs in Rachel's office. The teen could tell she put Rachel in a better mood, it was probably even better since Harvey was there as well.

Rachel came from around her desk, "Hey baby," she spoke as she wrapped her arms around the young brunette in an embrace, "how was your day?"

"Pretty normal, unlike yours, you wanna dish out why you and your boss were arguing just then, Miss DA?" she asked with a smirk as she pulled away to look Rachel in the eyes.

"Harvey here is the DA, not me, that seems to slip your mind too often," Rachel smirked, knowing Anslee only called her that to tease her, "and we were actually arguing over something different than earlier." She spoke as she looked over at Harvey.

"Oh?" the man raised an eyebrow, "What about?"

"There was a bank robbery today," Rachel spoke.

"Ok well there's one of those about everyday all around the city, what's so special about this one?" Anslee questioned as she sat down in the seat her backpack wasn't in.

"This one was at Gotham National Bank, and I shouldn't be telling either of you this, but it was supposedly by this new guy running around Gotham, calls himself The Joker," Rachel explained, "Left the bank in a school bus, followed in a line of school busses, so we have no idea where he is or where we went."

"So why are they up your ass about it?" Anslee questioned.

Harvey merely smirked while Rachel gave the girl a look scolding her for her language, "Because, he's afraid if we get him in custody and then into trial I'm going to overlook what's at hand, as if I have already," Rachel rolled her eyes.

"You mean the whole Falcone and Maroni thing he's been yelling at you for all day?" Ans asked.

"Who told you that?" Rachel asked before looking over at Harvey.

"It was me, she asked what was up, I answered truthfully," Harvey held up his hands in defeat. Anslee snickered up at the man before looking back at Rachel.

"I'm sure it will all be fine and your boss is only looking for something to complain about because he just wants to find something to pick on you about," Anslee assured her as she stood up from her seat.

"Thank you, baby, but I'm sure there's much more behind it," Rachel smiled softly before wrapping her arms around the girl again. Anslee smiled once more before turning to look at Harvey.

"You guys have anything planned for tonight?" she asked with a slight smirk.

"Well your mom and I were gonna head out of here in about a half hour and grab dinner, nothing too fancy for a Friday night, you're more than welcome to come along if you'd like, Ans," Harvey offered.

"Yeah, why don't you come with us, you can talk to me about the scholarship thing you were telling me about earlier," Rachel agreed.

"Scholarship? You got a scholarship, Anslee? Way to go, kiddo," Harvey smiled at the seventeen-year-old.

"I didn't get one just yet, it's an opportunity I have to apply for one that could give me a full ride to college if I get in where I want to," She smiled at Harvey, "and we can talk about it later, alright?" she asked, eyeing Rachel.

"No, come on, we have to talk about this before you bring it up with your father, you're coming with us," Rachel stated as she looked at the brunette seriously.

Anslee caved before giving in, "Fine, but can I at least take the car and drop my stuff off at home and change my clothes before we go and I'll meet you and Harvey there?" she asked with a hopeful glint in her eyes that Rachel would let her drive her mother's car.

"I would, but Harvey offered to take me to work today, and you took the train to school, no car here besides Harvey's," Rachel confirmed.

"What if she takes my car back to your guys' place and then she can come back and pick us up and we'll go," Harvey offered as he began to pull his car keys out of his suit pocket. Rachel gave him a crazy look before Anslee protested.

"As fun as that sounds, I'm not using your gas in your car, which I love your car, even ask my mom, but what if I just walk home really quick, I'll grab my mom's car and meet you guys there, that way if you two want to go do something after we eat something, I can take mom's car back home," Anslee offered.

Rachel thought for a second before looking over at Harvey, since he had become a father figure to her when she wasn't with Bruce, not that he was one much anyways, for some sort of say in it.

"I don't see why it's a problem, she's seventeen and perfectly capable of handling herself, Rach," he nodded, looking between the two girls in the room.

Rachel sighed, "Alright, fine, but you are only to take the car to and from home, no pit stops, got it, Ans?" Rachel spoke as she gazed at her teenager.

"Yeah of course, keys are sitting on the counter right?" Anslee asked as she headed for the door, turning to look back at the two for a second.

Rachel nodded, "Yes, on the counter, and Anslee, please be careful on your way home, you know how dangerous those streets can be and you know how much you look like prey to some of those people out there."

"Mom, I promise I'll be ok, I have my phone on me and I have you and Harvey on speed dial just in case anything happens," Anslee assured her mother, finding it annoying whenever Rachel lectured her on it everytime she even left the house or somewhere that was safe.

"Alright," Rachel settled, "I love you and be careful," She spoke once more, she was always scared to let her own child, letalone her only child, out on the streets alone.

"Love you too, I'll see you in a bit," Anslee smiled before leaving the room and shutting the door behind her.

"Rachel, calm down, she's smart and knows where trouble is and how to stay away from it," Harvey assured Rachel as he came up behnd her and placed his hands on the back of her shoulders, gently massaging them.

"I know she is, but you know how it can be out there, I don't want her getting mugged or raped, especially because we still don't have all those criminals put back in Arkham after Crane freed everyone. There are still some really vicious people out there for blood." Rachel explained worriedly as she reached up and placed her hands on his.

"She'll be fine," Harvey spoke, placing a kiss on his lover's temple.


	4. In The Night

Anslee had made it to the streets where she had started her treck. The walk from her mother's work building was much shorter than the one from the high school. It was a route she'd known like the back of her hand, even if she did have a few shortcuts here and there that Rachel didn't have to know about. Whatever got her home the quickest, she always said.

It was no lie that the streets did irk the teenager at night, but she always kept her head up and did her best to not look frightened when she passed some questionable looking people on the sidewalks. Even now as she walked, she was less than a block from the apartment when she was about to turn the corner when she realized she had left her book bag in the chair at Rachel's office. She had felt incredibly dumb in doing so considering that was the basis of her even going back to the apartment besides the fact that she needed to change her clothes. Ans sighed to herself as she pulled her phone out of her pocket to call Rachel and ask her if she could just bring it with them when they were to meet at the restaurant.

As she dialed the number, she hadn't noticed that a street dweller of reasonable build, clad in rags that were threadbare, was making his way towards her, a steady pace as he seemed to walk nonchalantly. It wasn't until she had put the phone to her ear after hitting call had she noticed the man walking towards her. The teen rolled her eyes and turned away from him, hoping to send the message she wasn't to be harassed. That message hadn't seemed to get across quite well.

The phone beeped once in her ear and the man spoke, "What's a fine piece of ass like yourself doing out here on these streets? You're not one of the streetwalkers, too modest for that," he spoke as he circled her, to the point of where she was facing him.

Another beep.

Anslee had tried to ignore him, not wanting antagonize the situation and make this worse on herself, he still hadn't seemed to understand she wanted to be left alone. "Excuse me, I'm talking to you!" the guy spoke a little louder as a frown formed on his lips.

Another beep.

It was evident at this point she wasn't going to get out of this quietly, "Sir, I don't want any trouble I'm just trying to get home," she spoke in a worried tone as she silently prayed for Rachel to pick up the phone. "Home? Oh no, once you encounter people like us, you don't go home without a scratch," he growled back as he slowly inched a gun out of his pocket of his ragged clothing. Anslee's heart skipped a beat.

"You don't have to do this, sir," she spoke in a shaky tone

One last beep sounded in her ear before he lunged at her and they both went sprawling on the pavement. Her phone was knocked out of her hand a few feet away while it still beeped, awaiting Rachel's answer.

An instant pain shot up Anslee's arm and the side of her head as they made contact with the wet ground. The brunette groaned, but mustered the strength to pull herself to her feet, despite the spinning in her head. She looked around dazedly for the glowing screen of her phone, hoping maybe Rachel had picked up and was there on the other end of the line to hear Anslee cry for help if she were to. But the man was quick to his feet and followed her as she searched for the device.

She had only made it a few feet when he grabbed her arm and swung her in the direction of the nearest brick wall building. Upon contact she felt another sharp pain to her head take over. Anslee slid on the side of the building and to the ground, barely sitting up against the building. She felt a warm and sticky substance make its way down the side of her face. She reached up to wipe it away, but the little the man had done had taken its toll on her.

Anslee looked up at her attacker, who stood in front of her, looking smugly down at his work. Ans watched as the man raised his hand to smack her, but she quickly closed her eyes, bracing herself for the assault, not wanting to watch the man's satisfaction. She waited for a few seconds, but the blow never came. Dare she do so, but she opened her eyes to peek at the man. Although he wasn't there anymore. Instead she looked up to see her attacker being held by his collar by none other than the Batman himself. Slick black suit and all. The teen watched in horror as the masked vigilante took the man into the nearest alley. After that, she looked around her, searching for the phone, figuring it had probably gone to voicemail by now.

Ans tried her best not to black out as she crawled on her hands and knees looking for her phone. An immense pain continued it's way up her arm as she moved it, making her worry she was have dislocated her shoulder when she was either thrown to the ground or against the building. She groaned before she heard another voice, this time it was dark and raspy.

"What's your name?" It spoke. The brunette turned her body to gaze up at the Batman his grandeur overwhelmingly bigger than what she had seen on the news and in the tabloids at the grocery store.

"A-anslee Dawes-Wayne," She spoke as her head whipped from side to side. She decided she couldn't play complete damsel in distress. She slowly pulled herself to her feet. Her head pounded and unsteady beat as she tried to take a step forward. She had nearly stumbled back to the ground if it hadn't been for the Batman, who caught her and helped steady her with is arm.

"Steady, you need to take it easy," he instructed. Anslee's eyes watered as she searched for her cell phone.

"Mom," she muttered out rather loudly hoping maybe if Rachel were on the other line she'd hear her or if it was a voicemail, she'd have something to know her daughter was alive. Little did Anslee know her own father was behind the mask of the man who was at her aid, but both him and Rachel had both known better than to tell her that. Even he hated to admit it, but his heart ached seeing his own child in such a state. But he couldn't show it. Rather he did quite a number on the man

"Mom," Anslee uttered out once more, a little louder this time, before she completely blacked out, falling limp into the Batman's arms. Batman was careful to set her down, sitting up against a building. He then found her cell phone a few feet from where he sat her and saw the call on her cellphone has gone through. He could hear Rachel on the other end of the lane calling her child's name.

"Anslee? Baby where are you what's going on?" The woman was hysterical. Batman could also hear Harvey speaking.

"Anslee if you're conscious we need you to tell us where you are!" He spoke almost as frantically as Rachel. This was Batman's time to put them a bit at ease.

"She was attacked on thirty second and tenth street, She's unconscious, but alive. She needs an ambulance." Batman spoke before hanging up the phone, not even getting to hear a response from either of the two. He quickly dialed 911 and hit call. He set the cellphone down on her lap before giving her one last look, and disappearing into the night.


	5. Dazed

It wasn't until a few hours later that Anslee came back into consciousness, beeping sounding ever two seconds, but nothing like the beep her phone emitted. More like a heart monitor.

As she awoke from her state, she couldn't help but feel dazed. Upon barely opening her eyes, she immediately shut them. A bright white light shown in her eyes, making the pounding in her head worsen. A groan escaped the brunette's lips before she opened them once more, attempting to reach up and rub her eyes, but her right arm seemed restrained and ached when she tried to move it. She frowned before fully opening her eyes to gaze down at her body. She was a bit confused upon seeing her arm in a sling across her chest. But then it hit her and she remembered why she was in Gotham Regional Hospital in the first place. She remembered her head injury as well. She reached up with her free hand to run her fingers over where she had been hit in the head. She could feel stiches all in a row about an inch long in length.

Anslee sighed to herself, "Nice going, Ans," she sighed to herself before she heard a pair of footsteps enter the room. She looked towards the door to find Rachel followed by Harvey. Rachel immediately raced to her daughter's side and grab her hand, giving it a light squeeze.

"Anslee, my god, I'm so relieved you're ok, I thought you were gonna die out there when I got that phone call from you," she breathed out, "I'm so sorry I let you go out there even though I knew it was late, this is all my fault."

Harvey came behind Rachel and placed a hand on her shoulder, giving Anslee a slight smile and speaking, "Rach, calm down she probably just woke up."

"Right, sorry," she sighed, "Are you feeling ok or do you need anything?"

Anslee shook her head, "My head just hurts, that's all," she spoke simply, "Does dad know? I'm guessing no since he isn't here, or is he just out in the hall taking an important call?" she rolled her eyes.

"I called him after the nurses confirmed you were gonna be ok, they haven't given us much info about what you sustained, but your father did tell me that he's looking forward to this weekend, as far as he knows he shouldn't be called into any work emergencies," her mother informed her.

Anslee groaned once more, "You really aren't making me go with him for the weekend especially after what happened tonight, I just want to go home and lay in my bed in my room rather than the guest bedroom I have in his penthouse and then the one I barely have in Wayne Manor."

"Anslee, I'm not gonna tell you this again, he's your father and he loves you and he wants to spend time with you, believe me when I say he was extremely concerned when I called him and he's trying his best to be here when he can, you have to give him the benefit of the doubt. You know what he does and you know how time consuming it is," Rachel explained with a sigh, she knew how much her child resented her father, only because she had felt that sense of abandonment when the truth came out five years ago. Rachel even knew she felt it now because of how distant Bruce was with her now. She couldn't help that Batman was a part of his life even after all these years, no matter how much she hated it and wished he would give it up.

"Ans, I'd listen to her if I were you, it's pretty busy what he does, heck I'm almost as busy as he is," Harvey smirked down at her.

The teenager breathed out a small chuckle before she nodded her head, signifying the conversation was over and she wanted to move on, "So can someone please explain to me what happened exactly, it all seems like a blur to me right now."

"Yeah of course," Rachel spoke in a soft tone as she rubbed her thumb over the top of her daughter's hand, "You were attacked, it was about ten minutes after you left the office that you called me, and all I could hear was a lot of rustling and you were whimpering and groaning. And then it went silent and I heard you calling out mom," she paused and looked into her daughter's eyes, "And then a voice came through and told me what happened and where you were. Harvey and I left here as fast as we could and when we got there, the cops had already been called and you were being loaded into an ambulance."

"The man, what happened to the man who assaulted me? Did he get away?" The teen asked, almost frantic as she sat up and looked between the two.

Harvey reached down and put a hand on her shoulder, lightly pushing her back down so she'd lay down, "Don't worry about it, Ans, they got him. Your savior helped take care of that."

"My savior-" but she was quick to cut herself off, remembering that she had been saved by the caped crusader, "The Batman, he saved me." She spoke, frowning.

"What's wrong?" Rachel raised an eyebrow.

"It's ridiculous. I don't need saving. I don't know how I could have been so stupid to let him throw me around like that, I can handle myself and I sat and played victim," she rolled her eyes. Mad at herself.

"Ans this isn't your fault, sweetheart," Rachel spoke in the same soft tone.

"It is," she spoke before shaking her head again, "Can you please get me something to drink and some sort of painkiller, maybe the doctor so we can see when I can get out of here?" she asked, a pleading look in her eyes.

Rachel nodded, "Yes of course," she spoke before letting Anslee's hand go and standing up straight. She turned towards the door and walked towards it, followed by Harvey as well.

"Rach, I'm gonna head to the bathroom really quick, I'll meet you back here." Harvey stated. Rachel gave him a nod before they exited the room, only to find Bruce was just beginning to walk in.

"Bruce?" Rachel asked, while Harvey stopped, exchanging a nod with the billionaire before walking off to find the bathroom. Bruce turned back to Rachel.

"He seems to be in a hurry," the man smirked.

"Bathroom," she spoke, "What took you so long?" She questioned him, crossing her arms over her chest.

Bruce looked around for a second before he began to talk Batman business, "Crane's still doing drug trades with his toxin, people are complaining that it's not giving them the buzz they had bargained for, so I had to shut that down, hopefully have Crane apprehended for a while. Then there was the robbery at Gotham National Bank, this guy-"

"The Joker, I know," Rachel cut him off. Bruce raised an eyebrow before he began to speak again.

"Well, I gave Jim marked bills to be tracked for their use and location. Turns out a bunch of detectives have been buying drugs on the street with the bills, I found them deposited into the safe, aka the money of the mob bosses that are in Gotham. I've tried to get here as fast as I could after I saved her, believe me, I had her on my mind all night while I was taking care of things," he spoke, a look of concern actually gleamed in his eyes, something Rachel had never seen before.

"She's beating herself up it, thinks that it's her fault and thinks she could've handled it herself instead of being saved," Rachel sighed, looking at the ground in frustration.

"What? Why would she think that? There was no way that was her fault, she couldn't have prevented that," Bruce spoke agitatedly as he looked past Rachel's shoulder to see into the room.

"I hate to say this, but she's just like you, too damn stubborn and refuse to let the blame fall on anyone but herself. She doesn't like to play damsel in distress, because another thing she inherited from you, she's so independent, she refuses to ask for help until she honest to god needs it, she will do all in her power to not ask for help when she needs it," Rachel explained looking up at Bruce, hurt evident in her eyes.

"Rachel if I hadn't interfered she would have died out there tonight," Bruce spoke crossing his arms.

"You don't think I don't know that? You don't think that it doesn't hurt me to see her blame herself for something that wasn't her fault at all," She asked him, her tone changing.

"Of course I'm not saying that, I'm just saying I'd rather see her in there minorly injured rather than see her sprawled on the pavement dead. I understand she didn't want to be saved, but this could have been so much worse," Bruce spoke as he placed his hands on her shoulders.

Rachel looked up at him and nodded before she took his hands from her shoulders and stepped back, "I told Anslee I'd find her some painkillers and the doctor, you can go on in there if you want, she's awake."

"I will, in a second," he answered before Rachel turned to find the doctor. Bruce sighed to himself knowing she wouldn't be the most excited to see him when he walked into the room. He knew she'd probably be more overjoyed if he told her he was the one who saved her. More than anything Bruce wanted to be the one who swooped in and saved her whenever she needed it, he wanted to be the dad she lacked for the first eleven and a half years of her life, wanted to be the one to comfort her after a nightmare and mend her broken hearts after a break up with some stupid teenage boy. But he lost that, he never was able to establish a stable connection with Anslee. In a way his alias ruined an aspect of his life while saving another along with the city. If only Rachel would let him tell her he was The Batman than she'd understand why he was gone so often. But he shook off that small aching feeling before entering the room, a soft smile on his face.

Once entering, he took a second to gaze at the teenager in the hospital bed, she looked exhausted and frustrated, he'd never seen her defeated. Rather he's seen her with her head up like she could face anything, but he didn't see that spark in her, and it was understandable why.

"I'm sorry I'm late, you know how things can be at the office," Bruce finally chimed in, breaking her from her gaze into her lap, whether she was acting like she hadn't seen him or not.

Anslee was quick to look him up and down before she replied, "It's whatever, Mister Wayne," She spoke, she even refused to call him dad while he was in her presence. It had taken Bruce a while to except that he lost that privilege of her a long time ago.

He nodded, "Fair enough," he started before he took a seat next to her to really examine the damage that man had done to her, "Nasty gash there on your forehead, that must hurt," he commented as he looked at the bruising that was forming around it.

"Yeah, my head hurts pretty bad," She spoke laying her head back on her pillow, the attitude ridden tone had left, rather a soft one graced her lips.

Bruce was hesitant to reach out and grab her hand the way Rachel had earlier. He was surprised when she didn't pull away from his soft grip he had on her hand, seemingly cold in his opinion, "I'm sorry this happened to you, Ans, I really am," he spoke in a soft tone in return.

The brunette stayed quiet, her mind raced a million different directions. At the same time, she wanted to burst into tears just out of sheer pain and emotional hurt and yell and scream because of how angry she was at the whole situation in general. She knew if she spoke it would happen so she was careful to keep quiet, despite Bruce wanting her to just say something to him, just one thing was all.

Bruce mentally sighed, knowing he wouldn't get her to budge. As they sat in silence, Bruce wanting to bring up the weekend even though he knew he'd receive a huff about it and an eye roll, he decided to keep quiet and leave it alone. It had seemed like a few minutes before Rachel came back in, the doctor and Harvey trailing behind her. Anslee and Bruce both sat up once seeing the doctor with a clipboard in his hands.

"Hello, Anslee, it's good to see you're awake. We were afraid you might've sustained a concussion and that much sleep could be dangerous. But your stitches seem to be setting nicely, and x-rays from your arm came back. We thought you may have dislocated your shoulder from impact with a brick wall from what we were told, but you only bruised it. It'll be purple the first couple of days along with the scratches from scraping against the wall. It will also hurt to extend it above your head or completely out, so just be aware of possible pain. You also do not have to wear the sling, we only gave it to you for precaution, if it were something more serious we wouldn't want you sleeping on it, it may not be pleasant to do so even now. And you may get headaches here and there, normal pain medications are ok with that, mom and dad," he spoke glancing around the room at the adults, "make sure to keep her on limited movement, no running or serious exercising for the next few weeks, just try to take it easy. I'll prescribe you some pain killers just in case things get too unbearable, but other than that the standard stuff should get you through it. Lastly I wouldn't recommend driving either for a little while," The man explained with a smile.

Anslee let out a sigh of relief, she knew things could have been worse than they already are, "Thank you, doctor, when can I be discharged?" she asked, eager to get out of the place.

"Within the next half hour, I'll sign the release papers and I'll have the nurses help you out of here," he replied looking over his clipboard and looking back at Anslee, "You're welcome to take off the sling and then change back into the clothes you came here in, forgive us, we needed to change you into a gown to get the x-rays."

She nodded, "Thank you," She smiled. Once he left, she was quick to sit up and take the sling off, earning a gasp from Rachel.

"Anslee be careful," she spoke as she made her way towards her daughter to help her.

Anslee shook her head, "Mom, I'm fine, I promise, I'm gonna go change into my clothes on the bathroom and I'll be out, can you please hand them to me?" she asked, a serious look in her eyes.

Bruce stared at the girl, he understood what Rachel meant when she said she was stubborn and independent. Rachel sighed and picked up a bag containing Anslee's clothes and handing them to her, "thank you," The brunette spoke before turning to go into the bathroom to change her clothes.

Once the door shut, Bruce looked over at Rachel, "You were right when you told me that," he sighed, fighting with himself on whether to tell her the next thing or not. He finally said it, "And Ans doesn't have to come over this weekend if she really doesn't want to after all this, I understand if she wants to stay home and be comfortable."

Rachel sighed in return, "No, she's coming over no matter what, I already told her that, you deserve the time to spend with her and you need it," she replied in a genuine tone, "And Harvey has a case this weekend, and I don't want to leave her home alone in her condition. And if you're going to leave, even just for a little bit, at least have Alfred keep an eye on her," Rachel begged as she looked at the man, knowing he had a tendency to leave their child when she was with him.

"I promise I'm keeping work to a minimum even though we're packed tight on things to do, I won't leave her alone too much," Bruce gave somewhat of a reassuring smile before he turned to Harvey, "So, Harv why don't you tell me about this case?"'

Once Anslee made it into the bathroom she set the bag containing her clothes on the ground and sighed to herself. The brunette went up to the sink and leaned over the marble edge of the sink and gazed into the mirror to take in the features of what looked like a stranger. The bags under her eyes were new, and the stitches on the right side of her forehead weren't looking too familiar either. She was quick as well to slip the hospital gown off to gaze at the bruising that had begun to form where she hit her shoulder. She winced upon trying to move it, as a sharp pain went down her back. The girl hunched over the sink again as her eyes watered. She had refused to cry in front of the three adults out there, but she even told herself then that she needed to suck it up.

"Save the tears for your pillow, Ans," she told herself as she wiped her eyes and took one last look in the mirror. She first pulled on her leggings, knowing that'd be less of a struggle to put on because of the pain when she extended her shoulder. She then took a good two minutes to slip her t-shirt on, the amount of carefulness she had to use is what took the amount of time it did. Once fully clothed she took another look at herself in the mirror before exiting the bathroom, the bag in hand. All eyes were on her, watching her like a hawk as if she were about to collapse or something. She pretended not to notice and sat back on the edge of the hospital bed.

Anslee looked over at Rachel, "Hey mom, can you please give me those pain meds?" She asked. Rachel had nearly forgotten the pain meds in the first place.

"Yes, sorry," she spoke, digging into her purse to find a bottle of Ib Profen, upon pulling it out, she opened the bottle and dished out three of the tablets. She looked back at the teenager and held them in her palms, "Here you go sweetheart, do you need a water or something?" she asked.

At that point Anslee had been over it, waiting to wake up, waiting for Bruce, waiting to leave, waiting to forget this. She shook her head and took the pills from her mother's hand, "Nope, I'll dry swallow," she spoke quickly before tipping her head back, throwing the pills in the back of her throat, swallowing quickly, making Rachel cringe as if she'd just swallowed a raw egg.

"Some talent, you got there," Bruce snickered looking at her with pride in his eyes, he had always dry swallowed pills and disgusted Rachel with it for years.

"You'd be surprised," she spoke, looking back at him. Rachel sat down next to Anslee, placing her hand on her back, rubbing it lightly.

"Rachel, I'm going to go start the car, it's getting cold out there and I don't want you two to freeze out there," Harvey spoke as he got up from his seat, he approached Rachel, kissing her head, before giving Anslee a smile.

"Thanks, Harv," Ans chimed in as she watched him near the door.

"I'll meet you guys in the car." He said before exiting the room.

Bruce watched the interaction and he couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy hit him in the chest. He sighed, getting up and nearing the door, "I'll be right back," He spoke as he followed after Harvey.

He began to follow at a close pace before he called out, "Hey Harvey."

Harvey stopped walking and turned around to look at Bruce, he could tell something was off with the man considering his tone of voice and the way his fists were balled up, "Bruce?" he acknowledged.

"I just wanted to tell you that I hope you're treating Rachel with the upmost respect, and Anslee even more than that, it may not seem like it and you may not think it, but that teenager in there is my world, and if she ever feels mistreated-"

"Bruce, I cherish Rachel, and Anslee is a fine young lady, whom I enjoy the presence of. I understand where you're coming from, the whole overprotective dad thing dealing with the boyfriend, you've got nothing to worry about," Harvey cut him off, crossing his arms over his chest with a small smirk.

Bruce stayed silent, looking at Harvey with a serious look in his eyes, but less than a second later a chuckle escaped his lips, "You're right, what have I got to worry about?"

Harvey chuckled in return, giving Bruce a nod, before he turned and continued to the entrance of the hospital. The brunette man stood there for a second, processing what Harvey had said. Then and there he felt anger out of pure jealousy, thinking that he was losing his own child to a man she's only known for a few months. Let alone the fact she'd only really known Bruce for five years, but still. He shook his head before he turned back to the room. Upon returning, he found Anslee and Rachel standing outside the room. Bruce raised an eyebrow.

"What's going on?" He asked.

"Doctor signed the release forms and gave me the prescriptions. They insisted that Anslee be wheeled down to the entrance of the building, but she's persistent on walking despite they're saying she still be a little hopped up on the anesthetic they gave her." Rachel answered, glancing at the girl who was leaning against the wall next to her mother, avoiding her gaze so she wouldn't get scolded further.

"Anslee Grace," Bruce spoke in a somewhat stern tone, scolding the seventeen year old as well.

She looked up and met her father's gaze with the same dark brown eyes that possessed his face, it was evident she wasn't intimidated in the slightest by either of them, and she wouldn't cower under his gaze, "I refuse to have something completely useless aid me when I'm perfectly capable of walking, you both act like I'm gonna try and drive myself or something," she groaned.

Rachel knew better than anyone at that moment it was best not to argue back with the teen, it was only because she was tired and probably needed to get to sleep, the last time she'd checked her phone it was almost three AM. "You're going home and straight to bed," Rachel told her, ignoring the hissy fit she could tell the teen was internally having.

"Not arguing with that," she spoke before she began to walk past her parents and towards the entrance of the facility.

Rachel exchanged glances with Rachel before he watched her sigh, he could tell the woman was agitated, "I swear I don't know how much longer I can handle her like this."

Bruce watched Rachel carefully, hesitating before he reached out and pulled her into his arms, more of an embrace, "I promise I'll try and make some progress with her this weekend, I'll make an effort with building something with her and help her get a new mindset on things."

Rachel stayed quiet in his arms before she nodded and pulled away as if nothing had happened, "I better get her home, she's exhausted and so am I and Harvey. I can only imagine what you're feeling. Go home and get some rest, I'll bring her over around eleven thirty, goodnight Bruce."

Bruce nodded, he actually in all honesty wanted to catch up to Anslee and put her in the same embrace he had Rachel in and tell her he loved her. Sure, he always had, but never really showed it. He always figured that distancing himself would be the best to keep her safe, but now he wanted to keep her in arms length to shelter and protect her when need be. The man sighed to himself before pulling out his cellphone and dialing a number. He put the device to his ear and spoke, "I'm on my way home, Alfred."


	6. Orange Juice and Eye Rolls

Upon returning home from the car ride that seemed to last for hours, but was merely ten minutes, it had been enough to make Anslee just want to curl up in her blankets and sleep despite the amount of sleep she'd gotten in the hospital. Rachel had been at her side nonstop ever since they left the hospital room, her motherly instinct getting the best of her since she only wanted to make sure her child was ok. Though thoughtful, it had proven annoying to the teenager within minutes of exiting the hospital. May it be her independence, or something else, she just wanted it to stop and for the day to be over. Once inside her and Rachel's apartment, Anslee bee-lined straight for her room, wanting to avoid any type of conversation, but Rachel was quick to stop her.

"Ans, look honey, I know you're tired, but just one thing, well two. One, I'll wake you up around eleven tomorrow , I told your dad I'd drop you off at eleven thirty, not arguing you're going." she spoke, watching as the teen rolled her eyes in response, "And Harvey's staying the night."

"Oh good, try not to make too much noise," Anslee snickered in her mother's direction.

"Not appropriate," Rachel scolded her.

"Yeah ,yeah I'm going to bed," The girl laughed, turning towards her room.

"Eleven!" Rachel called after her.

"Uh-huh," the girl rolled her eyes before opening the door to her room. Striding across the smaller space and falling onto her bed, which in her opinion was way more comfy than the hospital bed she was in. She groaned to herself as she realized her mother still had her phone. At this point she wanted to check it to make sure she hadn't missed anything. But now she was too tired to even get up and ask for it. Anslee sighed and closed her eyes. Falling alseep almost immediately.

Eleven AM came sooner than it should have in Anslee's opinion, it was probably just the sheer fact that she didn't even want to go to Bruce's in the first place. But, she only did it because it kept Rachel happy and sane.

"Anslee, sweetheart you gotta get up, we have to be at your dad's soon," Rachel's voice hung in a sweet tone as she gently shook the teen, coaxing her to wake up.

It had only taken a few seconds before Anslee let out an agitated groan as she stirred, her head pounding worse than it had the night before. The brunette sat up groggily in her bed, wrapping her blanket around herself as she glanced on the clock on her desk across the room. "You told me you'd wake me up at eleven, it's ten thirty," she whined as she looked at Rachel with a frown.

The mother offered the girl a little bit of sympathy as she placed her hand on her daughter's cheek, "I know, baby, but Harvey made breakfast and I wanted you to eat something before we left, so up and at em'. Make sure you have a bag packed for your dad's too," Rachel spoke, removing her hand from Anslee's face and turning towards the door to leave.

Anslee rolled her eyes before falling backwards onto her pillow. Big mistake. With her head aching from the night before, it began to pound harder. She groaned once more, "It's just one weekend Ans, two nights, he'll take you to school Monday morning and you won't have to deal with him for another two weeks," She muttered to herself as she stared up at the ceiling. With a grimace etched on her face, she got out of the bed, feeling a body-wide ache as she stood up. Ignoring the pain, she proceeded to the apartment kitchen where she smelled the sweet essence of food in the air. Upon walking in, she saw Harvey with a pan in his hand, an egg in the pan.

"Morning Ans," she blonde smiled at her.

"Morning Harvey," the seventeen year old responded as she moved past him, offering a small smile as she opened the fridge and pulled out the orange juice. As she shut the fridge and turned round to reach for a glass from he cupboard, Harvey stood with a tall glass in his hands.

"Your mom told me the doctor said no high reaching with your shoulder," He smiled.

Anslee snickered, taking the glass from him, "Thank you," she smiled back at him as she took the glass from him and setting it on the counter behind her. As she unscrewed the cap from the carton, she heard Harvey speak.

"You and your dad got anything planned for this weekend?" Harvey asked as he scrambled the egg in the pan.

The teen poured the liquid into the cup, letting out a laugh, "Harvey in all the years you've known both me and my father, well not Bruce because you've never met, but you get the picture, do you really think we have something special planned this weekend?"

"You are very correct, just trying to lighten the mood." Harvey returned the chuckle.

"Your efforts are much appreciated, but nothing can lighten the mood when it comes to Mister Bruce Wayne, playboy, millionaire, philanthropist, he's made it quite obvious he's got much better things to do than hang out with his seventeen year old," Ans rolled her eyes before taking a drink of her orange juice, raising both her eyebrows.

"I feel like we've been through this before," Harvey turned to smirk at the girl.

"Every time before I leave for my dad's, now excuse me while I go add a tally to the number of times we've talked about this," she smiled, setting down her glass before heading back towards her room.

"Ha ha, very funny," Harvey spoke in a sarcastic tone as she watched her go back to her room.


	7. Let's Not and Say We Did

Anslee sat in the passenger seat of Rachel's car as they pulled up to Wayne Manor. The teen looked outside the car window and rolled her eyes before she slumped back in her seat as Rachel turned the car off, "Uuuugh, mom, do I really have to go?" She whined.

Rachel smirked at her child, "Anslee, he's your dad, he loves you, and he wants to spend time with you. He called me this morning and told me he took off work just so he could stay with you this weekend."

Anslee looked back at Rachel, "He's only doing it because I'm hurt, the moment I'm cleared to going back to my normal life, he's going to go straight back to work and we'll be back at square one."

Rachel sighed in return, "Anslee I don't have time to argue about this anymore, I'll walk with you up to the door and come inside for a few minutes, and then I have to go tend to the case with Harvey."

Ans groaned before opening her car door and grabbing her bag. Rachel got out as well and followed Anslee up the steps to the front door of Wayne Manor. Once to the door, Rachel rang the bell before looking over at her child who had her arms crossed over her chest with an upset frown. Rachel tried to think of a way to get Anslee to feel a little better about the situation. The woman reached into her purse and pulled something out, that something happening to be Anslee's phone. Rachel held it out with a small smile.

"I forgot to give this to you last night when we got home, but please, try not to be miserable and give him a chance."

Ans took her phone from her mother and sighed, "I'll try."

Before Rachel could get anything else out, the door opened in front of the two, and they were greeted with the smiling face of Alfred Pennyworth.

"Miss Dawes, I see you're heading off to work and Miss Wayne you're back for the weekend," the man greeted.

"Yeah, just came to drop her off since the doctors don't want Anslee to drive until she's cleared from her accident last night," Rachel smiled back.

"Master Wayne told me about what happened last night, how are you feeling?" Alfred asked Anslee.

"I'm ok, I guess. I've had a really bad headache since I woke up this morning and my shoulder killing me, but I think I'll live through it," she smiled back at the man, not wanting to worry him.

"I put the antibiotics the doctor gave her and the supplies to clean her stitches in her bag, remember, just call me if you need anything, I'll try to be aware as much as I can, but this case has got me swamped," Rachel informed them before reaching over to hug Anslee and kiss her forehead, "Bye baby, be good, and I love you."

As Rachel pulled away, Anlsee returned the I love you and bid her and Harvey good luck on the case. Anslee watched as her mother made her way back to the car. After she got in the car and turned it on, Anslee joined Alfred inside the manor. As she walked through the foyer, she heard Alfred speak.

"Your father's in the kitchen, he insisted I make breakfast for the two of you so you could eat together."

Anslee stopped and turned to the man, "That was incredibly thoughtful and sweet of you to make breakfast, Alfred, but I am so sorry. Harvey actually made breakfast this morning for me and my mom, and I really am stuffed."

"You call stuffed the glass of Orange Juice you had, Anlsee Grace?" the voice of Bruce Wayne himself rung out into the foyer as he leaned on the doorframe of the entryway, his arms crossed over his chest with a smirk plastered on his face, "Your mom called me this morning and told me you didn't eat anything, so I thought you could have breakfast here."

Anslee sighed as she turned to face her father, "Hello Mister Wayne." she spoke.

"How about let's try dad, after all I am your father, and come on, come eat," he coaxed her.

Anslee looked back at the man with a poker face before giving in, remembering what she promised Rachel. She sighed before giving in, "Alright, let's have breakfast, dad," she spoke.

Bruce half smiled, "Alfred, would you mind taking Anlsee's bag to her room, I wanted to talk with her privately for a bit."

"Not at all sir, Miss Wayne, if you will?" He asked, gesturing for her to hand him her bag.

"Oh, it's really not that big of a deal, I can take it upstairs when I go up there after we eat," Anslee assured him.

"Nonsense, Miss Wayne, I insist," he smiled back at her.

One thing Anslee always had a hard time doing was saying no to the man. The thing about Alfred was that he could wait on you hand and foot and he'd still leave you wanting more. He always insisted on doing things for her, and when she told him she could handle it, he'd always flash that grandfatherly look he had and she'd cave. Which is exactly what happened. Anslee gave up and handed him the bag, "Thank you, Alfred," she smiled back at him.

"My pleasure, Miss Wayne," he nodded at her before turning to head upstairs to her room.

"Shall we?" Bruce asked as he gestured towards the kitchen,

Anslee nodded before walking past her father and into the kitchen. She heard the shuffles of footsteps behind her signalling Bruce had followed her. When she entered the kitchen, which honestly was probably her favorite room in the house because of the rustic feel it had to it, she sat down on one of the bar stools at the kitchen island and watched as Bruce walked around to the other side of the island and picked up a plate, looking up at her.

"What do you want?" he asked as he gestured to the array of foods that were spread across the counter. Anslee's eyes quickly scanned it and looked back up at him.

"Just eggs for now," she spoke. Bruce looked at her for a few seconds as if he were trying to decode her, but then sighed and went to scoop the eggs onto her plate from the pan.

"I want to talk about what happened last night, Ans," he spoke, not looking up from her plate.

The brunette held her breath for a second before answering, "Let's not and say we did," she responded in a small tone, looking down at the marble counters and focusing her gaze there.

Bruce watched as her demeanor changed in a split second. He stayed quiet before speaking again, "What happened?" he asked her as he set her plate down in front of her and handed her a fork

Anslee really didn't want to talk about it, but Bruce probably didn't get the whole story of what happened when she got attacked. She pushed her eggs around on her plate before sighing, "I was walking home from mom's office to get the car and then meet her and Harvey for dinner, but I took a back way and didn't listen to what mom said. I went to call her and this man approached me and wouldn't leave me alone. I kept trying to get him to go away but he kept persisting. And then out of nowhere he just attacks me. Slammed my face into the pavement and slammed me into a brick wall and dislocated my shoulder. I swear he was gonna kill me until I heard him being...beaten. And when I looked back, that vigilante, Batman, was kicking his ass, and then I passed out and woke up in the hospital," she explained, her gaze was back up at Bruce and her fork was next to her plate.

Bruce had froze and stared back at her. He could tell she was still pretty shaken up about the whole situation. Even if she wasn't physically shaking or crying, he could see it in her eyes. Bruce felt that guilt build back up in him like it had the night before. Despite his distance he'd had with Anslee, he always wanted to protect her. She was still his daughter and he still loved her, even if he had a weird way of showing it.

The man made his way around the counter towards her, feeling like he could possibly comfort her, knowing how a situation like this could tear someone down, "Anslee, I'm sorry that this happened to you, and I wish I was there to prote-"

"I'm really not hungry," Anslee cut him off as he began to put his arm around her in a fatherly way. She quickly got out of her chair as she headed towards the entryway, "I'm just going to go to my room and work on...homework." she spoke before walking out and into the foyer, where she made her way towards the stairs.

Bruce sighed and sat down in Anslee's seat, engulfing his face in his hands, "Bruce Wayne, can go out and fight crime in a Batsuit every night," he picked up Anslee's fork, "Can't even begin to talk to or bond with his seventeen year old daughter," he said to himself as he stabbed an egg on her place and put it into his mouth, chewing and swallowing it.


	8. Confrontation

**Ok, so quick note from admin, I know these updates are rather short, but by next chapter or the one after, I am going to start tieing The Dark Knight plot and Joker all together with this. Believe me, I've got big things planned!**

Anslee had now been in her room, undisturbed, for a good half hour now. It wasn't unusual for this to happen, it's just she wasn't used to Bruce being home. After the little breakfast fiasco this morning, she had no idea what h'ed try to pull now.

The girl was sitting at her desk by her bed of the oversized room. She knew any other girl in the world would want the lavish lifestyle and big house she had, but honestly she could go without the lifestyle. And she made that blatantly clear to Bruce. On her laptop, she had a video pulled up and her earbuds plugged in. One hanging in her ear while the other was strewn next to her. In her lap lay a notebook with a pencil on top of it. Anslee hit play, watching the screen intently as she listened to the audio.

She'd managed to immerse herself in it so well, she didn't even notice Bruce come up behind her and tap her shoulder. When he did feel him get her attention, she paused the video, setting down her pencil, and turning to look at him.

"Homework, huh? Doesn't really look like homework to me," he raised an eyebrow.

"It's a documentary for GU American History," she rolled her eyes as she turned back to it, about to hit play, before Bruce stopped her again.

"GU? Like Gotham University? They offer college classes at your high school?" He asked.

"Yeah, I'd rather use my SAT scores and pay seventy five dollars than three hundred dollars for the same amount of credit hours," she spoke, turning back to her video, hoping she got her point across that she wanted him to go away. But Bruce wasn't about to give up that easily.

"What are you studying?" he questioned.

Anslee sighed, pulling out her earbud and turning back to him, "Are you genuinely interested or are you just doing this because Alfred told you to come up here and try and bond with me or whatever?" she raised an eyebrow, "I'd rather you tell me the truth than sit here and waste both of our time."

Bruce smirked, she had Rachel's attitude, he'd give her credit for that, "Anslee, this weekend is dedicated to you, you and only you. If I didn't care, I wouldn't be asking."

"And then what? In two weeks when I'm back over here it's not going to be about me anymore? It's gonna go back to the way it was and you're just gonna leave me here while you "work". When Anslee's not hurt anymore, it's not gonna be about her anymore because she's almost eighteen and she can handle herself right? I mean it's like I'm over here for no reason, you lock yourself in your office everyday or you're at Wayne Enterprise and you leave me here like I'm nothing to you. I don't understand why you insist I should be here every other weekend because you act like I don't exist. You probably can't even name what High School I go to, any extra curriculars I do, or even what I want to go to college for!" Anslee snapped as she looked up at Bruce from her chair.

Bruce looked down at her, he really didn't know that's how she truly felt. Sure he knew she was annoyed that Bruce wasn't around a lot during the weekends she was there. But it was all for her. All to keep Gotham clean so that another accident like last night wouldn't take place again. Bruce wanted nothing more than to spill the truth about Batman to Anslee. To let her know he did it all for her and the sake of this city. That it was him who swooped in and saved her the night prior. That if he didn't care and chose to act like she didn't exist he wouldn't have even bothered saving her. Instead he just looked down at her, at a loss for words, not knowing how to respond to the situation at hand. It took him a good minute, but he finally found words to say.

"Anslee, I know what it feels like to feel alone and felt unwanted or whatever, you get the point. I felt the same way after my parents died. I didn't have anyone to go to except Alfred. But he wanted to help me, pushed to, but I always pushed him away and secluded myself. And I swore that one day, I would never let that fall upon someone close to me, I would never let them push away the help they needed when someone was kind enough to offer it to them. Anslee, I am not about to let that happen to you, I refuse to let you push me away, because I don't want what I've turned out to be for you," he explained in a level headed tone as he stared into the dark brown eyes she shared with him.

"Why all of a sudden now? I've been in your life nearly eight years and of all times you choose now to start showing you care." She spoke, standing up from her chair to almost look him in the eyes.

"Because last night opened my eyes. Anslee I never realized how easy it is to lose someone you love and care about, letalone your own child. Especially a second time around," he spoke, looking at the ground as he replayed the night his parents were murdered in his head, "I was so close to losing you last night, and I didn't realize how much I take a child like you for granted. Anslee you are gorgeous like your mother. You've got her personality, and you're so incredibly independent. You're smart and you have the grades to prove it. You're talented, I've seen what you can do. You can dance, and that's what makes you so unique," Bruce paused as he looked back at her, this time her eyes were filled with tears that were threatening to spill onto her cheeks.

Anslee really didn't know Bruce really did know that much about her, she was honestly surprised and it kind of awestruck. As she looked back at her father she didn't know whether to punch him for keeping this from her for so long, or hug him and forgive him for all he's put her through. She simply looked up at the man, wiping her eyes with the back of her sweatshirt sleeve, and spoke, "I just really need time to clear my head, and think."

Bruce looked back down at her before nodding, "I understand," he responded in almost a whisper before he turned to walk out of the room. Meanwhile Anslee had sat back down at her desk and held her earbud in her hand. Before Bruce completely walked out, he stopped and looked back at her.

"Anslee, just know that I love you," he spoke before leaving her room. Ans didn't even tu

rn, she sat, frozen in her chair as she tried to process what even went down.

Anslee tried to think like Rachel would, that was always her plan when it came to things she really didn't know what to do about. In all her seventeen years she'd never seen her mom break down. Rachel Dawes, Gotham's District Attorney, raised a baby all on her own, and still managed to make it through law school. If Rachel could do all that, Anslee could make it through her civil war in her head over daddy issues. But at that point her headache returned. She was already mentally exhausted and it wasn't even two pm yet. This was going to be a long weekend.

That day had passed quickly. Day turned to night in an instance, and by now it was nearly one in the morning by the looks of the digital display on Bruce's watch. He had done nothing but sit in his office and think since he spoke to Anslee earlier. That and waiting for the time to roll around that he could tend to his "extra-curricular" line of work. Every so often Bruce would walk by her room, diverting his attention to the light under her door, waiting for it to turn off so he could sneak down to the cave. By the time one AM rolled around, Bruce was surprised she could stay up that late after just getting out of the hospital. He knew those places were not made for peace and rest. The fact that his child in the first place made him clench his fists in anger.

He was on his normal patrol the night prior. He made sure to keep an extra eye out for things by Rachel's work, knowing the case was about to go down and things had the capability of getting dangerous. But when he saw a girl getting mugged, he swung into action like normal. Once he saw it was his own child in the position of the victim, that's when he lost it. The man couldn't remember ever being so angry in his life, it was just a blind rage mode that was activated and he went at the man until he wasn't even sure if he was still alive when he was finished. Just the memory of it had a way of making his blood pump in his ears at an alarming rate. There were so many things he'd given up becoming Batman, but he would never dare give up the two loves of his life.

Bruce chuckled at himself thinking about the statment, how true and false it was at the same time. He may have been able to keep them protected and alive from Batman's enemies, but he had also given them up to keep them out of the path to danger.

Batman had been the omen that was supposed to make him worthy of Rachel. But in reality, the same thing that would have held them together was the same thing pushing them apart. Bruce shook his head before walking up to the piano and playing the three flat harmonies before the entryway to the elevator appeared and he entered, seeing what Alfred was up to in the cave.


	9. Bet

The Tumbler rolled into the batcave at a ripe and early four AM. After Bruce parked it, get got out, the coldness of the cave sending shivers down his spine. Bruce removed his cowl as he made his way to the computers, only to be met by Alfred still clad in his suit, holding a mug filled with a steaming liquid, coffee no doubt. Bruce wasn't much of a coffee drinker, but when it came to his late night escapades, he needed his caffeine fix.

"She finally went to bed around three," Alfred spoke, referring to Anslee, as he watched Bruce take a drink of the beverage.

The burning liquid melted its way down his throat, warming him up from the inside, "Maybe Waynes have a knack for being night owls," Bruce chuckled.

"She asked for you, wished to bid you goodnight," Alfred informed, which slightly threw Bruce off. He stopped midway through another sip to look at Alfred as if he'd just sprouted a third arm or something.

"She wanted to tell me goodnight?" he asked.

Alfred nodded, "I don't know what you said to her, but she seems a lot let miserable than usual."

Bruce took another sip before setting the mug down, "Joker's recruiting men," he responded as he went to the computer, beginning to rapidly type things into the keyboard.

"Perhaps that's something we can discuss in the morning, it is quite later, Master Wayne," Alfred cut in.

Bruce stopped typing and sighed, Alfred was right. Bruce removed his hands from the keyboard and stretched them above his head. The cracking noise his back made was just another reminder to him that he wasn't as young as he used to be. Not that he needed any other reminder . He could see the years pass by just by watching Anslee grow up.

"For your safety, I'll head to bed myself, but I'm gonna check on Anslee first," Bruce spoke before heading to the changing area to change out of his suit and back into normal clothes,

The manor sat quiet as Bruce made his way up the stairs to Anslee's room. He'd made it his personal priority when she moved in to make sure she'd always gotten the best at the manor. That even meant the best view. Bruce had given her the west wing, thinking she'd appreciate the sunsets of the city from her bay window or her small balcony.

Even now, as much as she tried to hide it, Bruce knew she was happy to finally be home after two weeks. The only thing he wanted was the real Anslee. The happy and giggly and outgoing Anslee that Rachel always told him about. He wanted his child to feel comfortable to be herself around him, Perhaps it was his fault she couldn't act like herself around him. He did plan for her to hate him didn't he?

To Bruce, almost everything in his life felt planned at this point. During the day he was Bruce Wayne, the man who embellished in his elegant lifestyle and lived everyday like it was his last, followed by hours in the night donning a cowl hiding from the world. When Bruce first pursued Batman, it felt freeing to don the cowl and take care of all the scum and evil in the city. But now it just felt like it was becoming a prison.This was a burden he took on, and one he would never wish upon anyone else.

Bruce opened Anslee's door slowly, a few rays of light shown through the crack and shined softly in the teen's face. She seemed peaceful when she sleeped, almost like she were a little girl again, not having to worry about the things she did now. Bruce had entered her room and sat down on her oversized bed next to her. Her dark brown hair and olive toned skin reminded him of Rachel. It sparked an ache for the woman, starting from his heart, and slowly spreading throughout his body until it engulfed him into a numbing feeling. Missing someone as much as he did Rachel was a pain he often experienced like none other. This was one that couldn't be cured with painkillers.

Bruce sat and watched her. Watched as her chest moved up and down as she breathed, memorizing the rhythm to which she inhaled and exhaled. Silemtly, Bruce leaned over her, feeling her breath on his face. He gently reached down and pushed a strand out hair out of her face, being careful, feeling as if even touching a being so perfect in his eyes was a crime. Bruce reached down and placed a kiss on her forehead, just above where her stitches had started. Bruce couldn't even fathom how brave she was. How tough and head strong she grew up to be. Bruce half smiled down at her before placing one last kiss on her forehead, before getting up and walking towards her door. Before completely closing the door before he left, he gave her one last look, almost as if he were looking to make sure she were still there and hadn't disapeared in the time it took him to get from her bed to her door.

Bruce whispered a last, "I love you, Ans," before shutting her door softly and heading towards his room so he himself could go to sleep.

The next morning, Bruce allowed himself to sleep in, knowing Anlsee probably would have done the same since she was woken up so early the day before and was up until 3 that morning. But when he had waken up eventually, Anslee had already been awake. Bruce had made his way downstairs like he did morning, usually meeting Alfred down there to get his protein smoothie and then get on with whatever he needed to do for that day. Instead he was met by Anslee sitting in the kitchen at the island, scrolling through something on her phone with a cup of coffee in her hand. He watched as she took a drink while Alfred stood on the other side and read the newspaper from that morning.

"I see you two have gotten an early start," Bruce commented.

"Mhm," Anslee muttered, not taking her eyes off the screen.

"She was awake not long after I was, so i took the liberty of preparing a few hot beverages to start the morning," Alfred looked over at Bruce with a small smile.

Bruce turned his attention back to the seventeen year old sitting on the barstool, "Anslee," he spoke, trying to get her attention.

Immediately she looked up from her phone and back at Bruce, "Yes?" she asked raising an eyebrow as she took another sip of her coffee.

Bruce smirked back at her, she was a Grade A Drama Queen all on her own, and she wasn't afraid to have an attitude when it came to Bruce to let him know she meant business. Bruce nearly chuckled at her actions considering it reminded him of Rachel. "I was thinking perhaps you and I cou-"

But Bruce was cut off when Anslee's phone started to ring, and a picture of Rachel and a younger Anlsee flashed on the screen, "Hold on, it's mom!" Anslee spoke as she got up from her seat. Before Bruce could have a chance to object her answering the call so he could finish, Ans had swiped the answer button and put the phone up to her ear.

"Hello?" she asked, a smile forming on her face.

"Hey baby, I didn't interrupt breakfast or anything did I?" Rachel's voice chimed in over the phone.

Anslee glanced over at Bruce, "No, you didn't interrupt anything, how did the case go yesterday?"

Rachel chuckled at how eager she was, "Case was fine, unfortunately Maroni walked."

"What? They let Maroni walk?" Anslee asked, frowning. Bruce averted his attention to Anslee, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, the witness tried to kill Harvey, and he suspected it was Maroni's because he bought the gun from China, not America. But there was no way to link the gun to Maroni and there wasn't much of a case left to fight. So they let him walk," Rachel explained with a sigh.

The teen sighed, "I'm sorry, that sounds incredibly frustrating," she responded to the woman.

"It is, but Harvey isn't too beat up about it. But enough about me, how's the weekend going so far?"

Anslee hesitated before answering, "You know how it is, nothing too excting."

"Hang in there, baby," Rachel smiled from her end of the phone.

"Believe me, I'm trying," Anslee smirked in return.

"I've gotta get going, but I just wanted to check on you. Try and have fun and give your father a chance. I'll see you Monday after school, love you," Rachel bid her goodbye.

"Love you too," Anslee sighed before moving her phone from her ear and hitting end call. Ans looked back at Bruce, "you were saying?"

Bruce looked back at her and how her demeanor changed when it came to him and not Rachel, it irked him slightly, "Nothing," he spoke before looking to Alfred, "I believe I'm going to meet with Mister Fox today, Alfred."

"Mister Fox called this morning actually, requested you call before meeting with him. He knew the young miss was over for the weekend," Alfred gave Bruce a knowing look.

Anslee sighed as she looked at Bruce, "This weekend's about Anslee," she reminded him of what he said yesterday.

Bruce smirked, before nodding, "I did say that, I'm sure a phone call won't kill you, Ans."

"I give it three hours and you'll be out of this manor and into work," Anslee narrowed her eye at the man.

"You wanna bet on that?" Bruce leaned over the counter, narrowing his eyes at her as well.

"And if you win?" she asks.

"You have to watch a movie with me in the living room, my pick, no complaining, no phone, no laptop, you and I watch the entire movie."

"And if I win-"

"Anslee Grace if you win, you will never have to do anything with me again, no bonding, nothing. You can spend your weekends here as you please," Bruce responded.

Ans looked back at her father with a frown, way to make her seem like the worst person in the world at the moment, "As tempting as that sounds, I'm not that terrible of a person, why don't you just owe me one if I win?"

"Alright deal," Bruce held out his hand so they could shake on it, a cocky smirk played on his lips.

"You look a little too confident, Mister Wayne," Anslee shook his hand as she kept her eyes narrowed at Bruce.

"I'll see you in three hours with my movie picked," he spoke before turning to leave the kitchen.

"I'm sure you will," Anslee commented as she picked up her mug and took another sip, watching as he strolled out of the room with ease.

"Both of you made that more dramatic than it needed to be," Alfred spoke as he kept his eyes on the newspaper.

Anslee chuckled, "When do we not?"

After the breakfast negotiation, Anslee headed back upstairs to get ready for her day, not like she was going to go anywhere or do anything, she just didn't have anything else better to do in all honesty.

The teen stood in her bathroom, staring at her reflection like she'd done when she was in the hospital room two nights prior. The stitches on her forehead hadn't faded in the slightest, and as she stood in her track shorts and her sports bra. Her gaze was focused on the large bruise on her right side. It was prominent, not something you would miss, even at a glance. The purple hue had began to set in, some places were darker than others while some were still an off yellow color. She had one on her shoulder to match it. Not to mention the sharp pains that erupted when the bruises were touched or if she moved her body the wrong way, They were reminders to her that she was just another victim of this city. All she could do was stand and stare, feeling sympathy for herself.

Bruce had made it his priority to make sure he wouldn't leave. He was determined to prove a point to his daughter he could make time for her. The only thing he'd have issues with in the future was doing exactly that when Anslee came over again the weekend after next, especially with the case of the Joker and psychos like Crane running the streets of Gotham. But before anything, he needed to get a hold of Lucious. Bruce pulled out his phone and hit a button since Mr. Fox was on speed dial. The brunette put the phone to his ear and almost immediately got an answere.

"This is Fox."

"Lucious, it's Bruce, Alfred told me you wanted to get a hold of me and coincidentally I needed to speak to you as well," Bruce responded.

"What can I do you for, Mister Wayne?" Lucious chuckled from the end of the line.

"I need a new suit," Bruce answered, looking around to make sure Anslee wasn't in earshot of the conversation.

"Three buttons is a little nineties," Lucious chuckled once more.

Bruce smirked, "I'm not talking about fashion, Mr. Fox, so much as function," the man pulled the phone away from his ear, tapping the screens a few times before hitting send, "I just sent over a few diagrams of what I was thinking."

"Mhm," Lucious spoke, removing his phone from his ear and opening the files Bruce sent him, putting the call on speaker in the process, "You want to be able to turn your head?"

"Sure make backing out of my driveway a lot easier," Bruce smirked.

"I'll see what I can do," Lucious chuckled, "how's rest been with your frequent late night escapades?"

Bruce didn't answer, only letting out a small nervous chuckle signifying that his rest hadn't been as much as he would've liked it to be.

"You should get some rest," Lucious scolded, "You need to spend time with Anlsee while you can, it's Sunday and I can bet you that girl has spent all weekend in her room."

"She's been a tiny bit more open, she actually got into an accident Friday night, a mugging to be exact," Bruce's tone had changed to a darker one just thinking about Friday night, it still made his blood boil.

"I'm sorry to hear that, but even more of a reason to get rest. You're not invincible, you can't keep taking the amount of beatings you have lately and get away with not sleeping. Your body needs it, especially when dealing with a girl like Anslee," Lucious spoke in a lecturing tone.

"Speaking of which, I have to make sure she took her medicine this morning, goodbye Lucious," Bruce spoke before hanging up the phone, placing it back in his pocket. Bruce walked out of the study and towards Anslee's room.

Bruce stood outside Anslee's door, he knocked two times and called her name, but he didn't get a response.

"Anslee, can I come in?" he asked, still no response.

Bruce frowned, usually she would answer immediately. It raised a bit of concern for him. Bruce placed his hand on the doorknob in hopes she didn't lock it. He turned it, letting go a sigh of relief in his head. He pushed the door opened and walked in, looking around to find her. He didn't find her. But when he looked around again he said her bathroom door was open with the light on. He frowned as he walked towards the bathroom, finally stopping in the bathroom door way to see his daughter peering at herself in the mirror.

"Ans, what are you doing?" he asked before he really got a good look at her. The bruises, her stitches. It reminded him of himself after an eventful night as Batman.

"He did this," she spoke, frowning at her reflection as if she didn't even recognize herself anymore.

"And he was put away for it," Bruce answered, taking a step into the bathroom.

"But he didn't learn a lesson."

"He'll learn one as he rots in prison recovering from the beating he got," Bruce took another step closer to her. Anslee turned her head to look at him as she slowly inched backwards away from him.

"Did you need something?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Just wanted to make sure you took your meds this morning," he looked at the ground and then back up at her.

"Yeah, now can you please get out so I can shower?" she asked in an annoyed tone.

"Of course, princess," Bruce snickered as he turned and walked out of her bathroom.

"I can't stand you sometimes," the teen groaned as she walked forward, taking the door, shutting and locking it. Anslee walked back to her mirror, staring at herself one last time before rolling her eyes and sighing. She moved from the mirror and stripped off the rest of her clothes, starting the shower and stepping into the hot water.

Three hours had come and gone, in fact it had been almost eight hours since they made their little bet. Anslee figured Bruce hadn't claimed him prize because he went into work, but honestly Bruce was in the cave working on things to do with the Joker. When he had realized the time, he was quick to rush out of the cave with the help of Alfred, and make his way to his daughter's room.

Anlsee lay on her bed, her laptop laying next to her as she looked through a Word document with things for a project she had due the next day. She nonchalantly scrolled through it, skimming information and whatnot. When her door opened and Bruce walked in, she nearly cackled.

"How was work?" She asked as she kept her eyes glued to the screen.

"I wasn't at work," Bruce stood at the edge of her bed with his arms crossed over his chest.

"It's been more than three hours and you've been MIA for nearly all of them."

"I was busy thinking about how much fun we were going to have," Bruce chuckled.

"Likewise," Anslee looked up at him.

"I was going to make popcorn and pick the movie if you'd like to head downstairs," he flashed her a small smile.

"No thanks, Mister Wayne, you had your chance," Anslee snickered before turning her attention back to the screen.

Bruce groaned before reaching over and pushing her laptop screen shut, "Anslee, cut the crap," he snapped at her, "you've been away from your mother for over a day, you can drop the act."

"What act?" Anslee stood from the bed and cocked an eyebrow, "The disdain dripping from every word has been incredibly real," she placed her hands on her hips to emphasize her point.

Bruce looked her up and down, who did she think she was? Other than her mother's daughter considering the attitude was something she'd inherited entirely from Rachel. "I know I haven't exactly been the dad you've wanted or needed, but I've been trying my best here, Ans. We can do this the easy way or the hard way."

Anslee narrowed her eyes back at the man as she tilted her head sideways, "What's the hard way?" she asked.

Bruce snickered, "I will pick you up and take you over my shoulder all the way downstairs where you will be placed on the couch to enjoy a movie with your father, or you can come peacefully. You're choice," he shrugged.

Anslee could tell by the tense of his shoulders that he wasn't joking. She wrestled with the thought of giving him the chance or ignoring his warning, but ultimately decided it was best to not aggravate him further. The weekend was nearly over. Odds were Bruce would get bored with the movie and make up some dumb excuse and leave for one of his super ritzy parties.

"Fine," Anslee frowned as she walked past him and out of her room.

"Living room!" Bruce called after her.

Bruce and Anslee watched the movie in peace, in all honesty Anslee hadn't minded it. He had chosen and oldie, The Godfather, a classic and a personal favorite of his and coincidentally Anslee's.

Almost three fourths of the way in, Anslee had fallen asleep wrapped in a blanket, laying longways on the couch while Bruce sat at her feet. It had been eleven o'clock when the movie had ended and when Bruce had stood from the couch, making sure to check and see Anslee was completely asleep before sneaking off to the cave below his mansion.

Bruce had suited up, leaving his cowl off while he looked through some files at the last minute. Alfred had at the moment exited the elevator, approaching Bruce.

"Miss Wayne is asleep on the couch, did you want me to wake her and have her move back up to her room?" the man asked as he stood next to the brunette.

"No, she fell asleep during the movie, I didn't want to wake her since she's got school tomorrow, let her sleep, wake her up in the morning, would you?" Bruce asked as he rapidly typed into one of the keyboards.

"Miss Dawes actually called earlier, Anslee has a last minute doctors appointment scheduled for her shoulder in the morning and Miss Dawes requested she pick up the young miss tomorrow morning around nine AM, and she'll drop her off at school after," Alfred informed Bruce.

"I see," Bruce scanned the screens one last time before looking at Alfred, "Don't wait up on me tonight, Alfred, I've got much to do, it'll take me awhile."

"Noted Master Wayne, please, just get some rest after your crusade," Alfred pleaded.

"No promises," Bruce smirked as he slipped on his cowl and made his way towards the Tumbler.


	10. She needs to know

The next morning, Anslee was awoken to Alfred shaking her lightly like her mother had done Saturday morning. She slightly opened her eyes, groaning as morning light flashed in her eyes. But wait, there was never morning sun at six AM. The girl quickly sat up from the couch, "Crap I'm late, I fell asleep out here and didn't have an alarm set." She stood up from the couch.

Alfred chuckled, "Im sorry to give you a scare, but your mother actually called last night, you had a last minute doctors appointment scheduled for your shoulder at nine, she insisted on picking you up from here at eight forty-five."

"Oh," Anslee spoke, glancing at the digital clock seeing it was already eight AM, "Where's Mister Wayne?"

"Master Wayne is in your grandfather's study, he's been up since seven," Alfred confirmed.

"Thank you, Alfred," Anslee spoke before leaving the living room and heading towards her room so she could change and get ready to leave with Rachel.

XXX

Bruce stood outside at the front entrance gazing out at the road that Rachel would soon be driving down. The weekend had gone by quicker than he wanted. Every time he said goodbye to Anslee it killed him inside. Having her around and hating him was one thing, but watching her drive away was another pain all together,

Bruce was tired.

Tired of the lies. Tired of all the nights he spent alone. How he yearned for Rachel on some of those extra lonely ones.

He knew that after Anslee left he would have to pack his own bag and head towards the city to his penthouse. Being at the manor the entire weekend was all for Anslee. He wanted to take her away from the city where bad men attacked innocent girls.

"Bruce," a voice rang out.

Bruce snapped out of his thoughts to see Rachel standing in front of him, he was so focused on his thoughts that he hadn't even seen her pull up.

"We need to talk," Rachel spoke.

XXX

Rachel had her back to him, and from her stance he could see how tense her shoulders were. It had been a good forty-five seconds that the two spent in silence. He knew what he asked of her wasn't going to be easy, but he was done with pretending. Truth being he wasn't asking for permission, more so telling him what she was going to do.

"No Bruce, we decided not to tell her for her safety," Rachel turned back to him, "and with all that happened last week I am more certain that this is not the right thing," She spoke with a frown. When she did, the lines beside her mouth had been more prominent, a testament to the years that had gone by.

"It's easy for you to dismiss me. You haven't spent the last seventeen and half years alone," Bruce placed his fingers on the bridge of his nose trying to keep his arising headache at bay. He had known talking to Rachel about this was going to be difficult, but he hadn't anticipated how angry she'd be. Rachel was always the levelheaded type where he was the hothead. It seemed now the roles had reversed, "I want to be her father, Rachel, and two weekends a month isn't cutting it."

"Then maybe it's time you retire."

Bruce took a deep breath almost not believing what Rachel was saying, trying to keep calm. Her only answer over the years had been to stop being Batman. It just wasn't an option not was it easy. As much as he loved Anslee and Rachel, he had an obligation to uphold for the people of Gotham, "You know I can't do that. But Anslee will be eighteen in a few weeks. She can handle this."

"Like I had to handle it? Bruce I've been in the line of danger time and time again. Anslee nearly died during Scarecrows attacks because I was busy dealing with you!" Bruce could see the tears welling up in her eyes. It had been hard on both of them over the years, but the plan they had come up with didn't work for him anymore. They had decided years ago that Anslee and Rachel would keep their distance so that if someone found out his true identity, they wouldn't use them against him, "Aren't you tired Bruce? Because I am. I dread waking up in the morning because I'm scared that maybe I'll hear you turned up dead. I thought I would be done with this by now. I've moved on. I'm with Harvey."

"I still love you. Rachel. This change I'm talking about Anslee. We have the chance to be the family we always talked out," Bruce reached out and held Rachel's hand, relishing how soft and warm it was. Bruce glanced around at the cave, gazing at all the things that had kept them apart. It had been the only place he knew he could talk to Rachel without Anslee walking in.

"I can't, Bruce. I love Harvey."

Bruce felt his heart break for a third time. After the second he didn't think he even had a heart left to break at that point. Sometimes he thought her whole goal in life was to tear him apart, "Then I'm telling her."

Rachel pulled her hand away from Bruce, "This is a decision we should make as a team!"

"What team?" he yelled back at her. The sound echoed off the walls before traveling down the vehicle entrance, "We haven't been a team in years."

"Can we please not fight about this. We both love Anslee, and part of my hesitation comes from the fact that you just threw that at me. I need time to really think this over, It's not like we can undo it once we tell her."

Bruce knew Rachel was right. It was a huge decision that would include all of their lives changing. But the thought of change actually gave Bruce a happy feeling. No longer would he have to be the parent who was never in the loop. He could see Anslee perform. He was sure she'd had performances with dance right? And didn't Rachel say something about competitions? His days of watching from the sidelines were almost over.

"Look, Bruce, I've got to go, Anslee's appointment is at nine and it's already eight forty-five. Be careful tonight, that Joker is giving the GCPD a run for their money at the money. I heard what happened with those dogs with Crane. Someone has to tell you that you aren't as spring chicken anymore," Rachel smirked.

"Don't I know it. I have a bruise that would match our daughters," Bruce chuckled as he lifted his shirt to show off the blue and yellow impression.

Rachel reached her hand out to carefully touch his bruise, "I know Batman is apart of you, but do not let him kill you."

Bruce smirked down at her, "You say that as if we're not the same person," he put his shirt back down.

"You're not," Rachel turned back to the entrance of the cave.

"Anslee's meds are on the table in the kitchen," he called after her.

XXX

Rachel had met Anslee in the living room where she sat with her school backpack and her bag she packed for the weekend with Bruce," Hey, baby," Rachel smiled softly.

Anslee turned from her position on the couch to look at her mother, "Mom," she smiled as she got up and walked towards Rachel, engulfing her in a hug.

Rachel hugged Anslee back with an even wider smile, "I missed you this weekend," she spoke before pulling away and gently placing her hands on her child's shoulders, "how are you feeling, sweetheart?"

"Piercing headaches and shoulder pains all weekend, it kinda hurts to breath with my side, but I'm alive," Anslee lightly chuckled.

"Well, we gotta get going your appointment is soon, got everything?" Rachel asked

"Yeah," Anslee nodded as she picked up her weekend bag and Rachel picked up her daughter's backpack. Anslee made her way towards the front door when Bruce appeared in the foyer. Rachel walked with Anslee before seeing Bruce.

"Well goodbye, Anslee," Anslee Bruce spoke with a smirk seeing as she already the front door open waiting for Rachel.

Anslee looked back at Bruce with a facial expression that was anything but amused. Rachel scolded her child, "Say goodbye, Anslee."

"Goodbye Anslee," the teen rolled her eyes before walking out the door and towards the steps.

"I love you!" Bruce called after her.

"Uh-huh," she groaned as she made her way down the front steps.

Rachel sighed before looking at Bruce, "I thought you said you made progress with her."

"I did, she's just too damn stubborn," Bruce groaned as he watched his child walk towards Rachel's car. He then turned back to Rachel with a softer look, "Please keep me posted on her condition."

"I'll call you after I drop her off at school," Rachel smiled back at him, "Please be careful and don't immerse yourself too much in your work."

Bruce hadn't hesitated to reach forward and kiss Rachel's cheek, "I don't know what you're talking about," he smirked.

"Goodbye, Bruce," Rachel smiled sweetly at the man.

"Bye Rachel," he watched as she left the manor and walked towards her car with a brooding Anslee in the passenger seat. Bruce shut the door and leaned against it, sighing to himself as he immersed his face in his hands. He had to fix things with Anslee.

XXX

Anslee's doctor appointment had come and gone quickly. All too soon she found herself walking down the hallway of Gotham South High School on her way to her fourth period class, GU Calculus. She didn't even want to go to school in the first place, but no matter how much she pleaded with Rachel, the woman still insisted she face it and go to school, bribing the teenager with a fancy dinner with her and Harvey that night even though they planned to take her with them anyways.

When Anslee walked into the classroom, the room was silent, signalling her teacher, Mr. Gatons, had given the class homework time. To her surprise, no one had turned to look at her when she entered the room, besides Jenni, who was wide-eyed seeing the condition of her best friend.

Anslee had given the teacher her pass before walking to her seat and setting down her backpack on the ground and then sitting down in her chair. But before she could even reach down to unzip her backpack and take out her binder and laptop, Jenni was at her side.

"Ans what happened to you? You barely answer your phone all weekend and then you come in late to school with stitches and dark circles under your eyes. Are you ok?" Jenni asked a bit panicked for her best friend.

Anslee chuckled a bit, "I uh, got in an accident Friday night, that's all. And I just had really bad headaches and the light from my phone screen was making it worse. Plus I was at my dad's, you know how that is." she shrugged as if it were no big deal.

"An accident? Like a car accident?" Jenni's eyes widened, "Ans is your car ok?"

"Jen, I'm fine. No it wasn't a car accident...look it's just a really long story, and my headache from this morning is already coming back. Are you free after school?" she asked her best friend.

"I mean yeah, but we've got practice at five thirty, remember?" Jenni raised an eyebrow.

"I'm not going to practice, Jenni."

"What? Anslee you never miss dance, what is going on with you?" Jenni nearly burst out.

"Jen, calm down. I dislocated my shoulder in the accident and I'm bruised up pretty badly, look I told you I'll tell you after school ok? If you give me a ride to my apartment, you can come in and I'll explain before you have to leave for practice, alright?" Ans offered a small smile to Jenni.

Jen smiled back at her before nodding, "Alright, deal."

XXX

"And that's what happened," Anslee sighed. She was now sitting on one end of her bed while Jenni sat on the other, hugging one of Anslee's throw pillows against her chest as she held onto every word Anslee had spoken as she explained the situation of what went down Friday.

"So you were actually saved by THE Batmna?" Jenni raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, Jen. Is that all you got out of that entire story?" Anslee sighed, half annoyed at the situation.

"What? No, of course not. I'm just glad you're ok, I don't think I could go on with my life if I didn't have my best friend beside me anymore, Ans. Thankful you were only hurt rather than dead, honestly," Jenni smiled back at Anslee.

"Thanks, Jen," Anslee chuckled back at her best friend.

Jenni was about to say something else before Anslee's bedroom door and Rachel peeked her head in, "Jenni, sweetheart, it's five. I know you've got practice at five thirty and I know how coach can be when you're late," Rachel smiled at Jenni.

"Thanks Rachel, I was actually about to head out anyways," Jenni stood up and grabbed her backpack from off the ground, slinging it over her shoulder, "Bye Ans," Jenni smiled before she made her way towards Anslee's door.

"Bye Jen! Be careful and I'll see you tomorrow!" Anslee yelled after her before she looked back at Rachel, "Yes?" she smiled.

"You need to start getting ready, Harvey's taking us to a nice place tonight," Rachel smiled.

"You mean I can't go in leggings and a t-shirt, what a shame," Anslee smirked as she stood up and walked towards her closet.


	11. Dinner Interrogation

The popular and elegant restaurant that Harvey, Rachel, and Anslee were being lead through by a slim waitress was buzzing with talk from only Gotham's finest and wealthiest people. Anslee had glanced around the place wondering how Harvey managed to get the three a table. As they sat down Harvey spoke about the difficulty of doing so.

"Took me three weeks to get a reservation here," he smirked as he took a seat cross from Rachel while Anslee sat in between the two, "And I had to tell them I work for the government," he chuckled.

Rachel smiled in return, tilting her head in a sarcastic manner, "Really?"

"The city health inspector's not afraid to pull strings," he gave her another smirk.

"Impressive Harvey," Anslee chuckled as she settled her napkin on her lap.

For being in her worst state over the past four days, Anslee had managed to clean up quite nicely, a scarlet red knee length dress, with sleeves, minding the bruising on her shoulder, which clung nicely for her curves. She curled her hair a bit and wore barely any makeup. She was impressed with herself for having the motivation.

Harvey looked over at Anslee with the same smirk, but just as he was about to respond a familiar voice rung out in the air.

"Rachel! Fancy that."

Anslee looked up to see none other than her father, clad in a suit with a dark tie, followed by a tall woman in a black long elegant dress. A woman she recognized and almost had to take a double take to see if she was really who she thought she was. Her jaw dropped in astonishment.

The table looked at the man and the woman, while Rachel raised an eyebrow, "Yeah, Bruce. Fancy that." She smiled up at him as the pair stopped next to the table, across from Anslee.

"I swear I think he's stalking us now," Anslee looked to Rachel with an annoyed look.

Bruce gestured to the woman next to him, "Rachel, Natasha. Natasha, Rachel," He introduced them.

"Natasha," Rachel tilted her head, "Are you the prima-"

"Prima Ballerina for the Moscow Ballet. Oh my god, it is an honor to meet you," Anslee cut in as she nervously smiled up at the woman.

Natasha smiled back at the girl, surprised she knew who she was.

"Wow, Harvey's taking Anslee and I next week," Rachel commented.

Bruce looked to Harvey, "Really? So, you're into ballet?"

"Actually, it was an early birthday present to Ans, when she heard it was going to be here, she begged for tickets," Rachel confirmed.

Natasha raised an eyebrow before she looked at the seventeen year old, speaking to her with a heavy accent, "You are a fan of ballet?"

Anslee took a second before she realized the ballerina was actually talking to her, "Uh..yeah. I'm actually a dancer myself. I took my first ballet class when I was two," she responded with a smile, "I'm Anslee Dawes-Wayne, by the way, pleasure to meet you."

"Wayne?" Natasha asked as she glanced at Bruce.

"My daughter, and Rachel's as well," Bruce gestured to Rachel in her chair.

Rachel smiled back up at Natasha before Harvey broke the silence, reaching his hand up to shake Bruce's, "Bruce," he smiled.

Bruce shook his hand in return, "So, let's put a couple tables together."

Harvey looked around, "I'm not sure that they'll let us."

"Oh, they should," Bruce assured, "I own the place."

Anslee frowned, "Since when?"

"As of ten minutes ago, Anslee Grace," Bruce looked back at her with a more than sarcastic look on his face.

"Oh right, excuse my youthful ignorance," she narrowed her eyes back at the man. Bruce offered a smile before he gestured for the waiter to put another table with the three who were already seated.

The two sat and ordered a few drinks. Small talks was made until Natasha brought up a point.

"How could you want to raise children in a city like this?" She asked, glancing between the adults.

Bruce chuckled, "Well, I was raised here, I turned out ok," before looking to his daughter who was silently brooding across the table from him, "Anlsee's lived here her entire life and she's grown to be amazing," he gestured to her.

"Is Wayne Manor in the city limits?" Harvey asked as he picked up his class of whiskey, taking a drink out of it.

Bruce smirked, "The Palasades." He answered, "You know as our new DA, you might wanna figure out where your jurisdiction ends."

"I'm talking about the kind of city that idolizes a masked vigilante," Natasha pointed out in a rather confused tone.

"Gotham City is proud of an ordinary citizen standing up for what's right," Harvey looked to Natasha.

"Gotham need heroes like you, who, elected officials, not a man who thinks he's above the law," The woman interjected.

"Exactly, who appointed the Batman?" Bruce smirked.

"You know, Mister Wayne, it seems a little hypocritical in my opinion that your speaking against this vigilante when you were praising him and justifying him for saving me this past weekend. Any thoughts?" Anslee sat up in her chair and tilted her head as she narrowed her eyes at her father.

"We did," Harvey frowned, breaking the tension in the air, "all of us who stood by and let scum take control of our city."

"But this is a democracy, Harvey," Natasha frowned in return.

"When their enemies were at the gates, the Romans would suspend democracy and appoint one man to lead, and it wasn't considered murder. It was considered a public service," Harvey explained.

"But even Caesar had his downfall, his own best friend literally stabbed him in the back. He met his demise, despite his bravery. He sought and never gave up his power and praise more than seeing what was best for the people," Anslee pointed out.

"Ok, fine," Harvey chuckled, "You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain. Look, whoever the Batman is, he doesn't want to do this for the rest of his life. How could he?"

Bruce listened to Harvey's words intently. He was right, Bruce didn't want to do this for the rest of his life, and with his ailing health due to it, he knew he soon wouldn't be able to. Then Bruce looked to Rachel. Rachel, the love of his life. The one he wished he would have never let get away. They still had a chance at something. At a life together. At finally becoming the family they'd always wanted. But Bruce chose the Batman over that life. And he's paying the consequences.

"Batman is looking for someone to take up his mantle," Harvey finished.

"Someone like you, Mr. Dent?" Natasha cocked a brow as Rachel glanced at Harvey.

"Maybe," Havery chuckled before looking back to Natasha, "If I'm up to it,"

"What if Harvey Dent," Natasha picked up her napkin from the table and placing it in front of Harvey's eyes, "Is the caped crusader?"

Harvey chuckled, "If I were sneaking out every night, someone would notice," Harvey reached over and took Rachel's hand in his.

Bruce watched the scene unfold, and hurt filled his every muscle and vein in his body. That should have been him. That should be him raising his daughter alongside her mother. That should be him holding her hand. That should be him making her feel the way Harvey does. It wasn't fair.

"Well, I'm sold, Dent," Bruce smiled, "I'm gonna throw you a fundraiser."

"That's nice of you, Bruce, but I'm not up for election for three years."

"You don't understand," Bruce shook his head, "One fundraiser with my pals, you'll never need another cent."

The rest of dinner had loomed on that night, and Anslee didn't think she'd ever rolled her eyes at her father so much in her whole life. But, she'd held her tongue for the sake of being out with Rachel and Harvey. That and the fact she was sitting across from someone she'd aspired to be since she was a little girl, a Prima Ballerina. Then again, she was one hundred percent sure Bruce had gotten the date with her to impress Anslee, but it only further annoyed her he was trying to wedge his way back into her life the way he was.

When dinner had finished and everyone had bid their goodbyes, Bruce had taken the time to really get a look at Anslee, and man did he feel old. He seemed to keep having to remind himself that she wasn't a little girl anymore, and she reminded him much of Rachel when she was that age with her cute upturned nose and her brunette hair out of her face in a professional manner. When he'd approached her to say goodbye, Bruce could see the disdain in her eyes, but what was new when she looked at him? "You look very mature and beautiful tonight, it was brave of you to even come out after the accident," he smiled to her, eyeing the purple and yellow stitches on her forehead.

"Thank you, Mr. Wayne," Anslee looked back to the man with her head held high, seeing as he eyed her stitches, "Goodnight," she gave him a nod before following Rachel and Harvey out of the restaurant.

"Goodnight," Bruce muttered as she walked away, seeing his teenager slip from his grasp once again.

Outside, Anslee waited alongside Rachel for Harvey to bring the car around. The brunette had her arms crossed over her chest as she gazed to the ground, her eyebrows furrowed. Rachel stood by watching the girl intently. The way her daughter's brows were furrowed reminded her of Bruce, bringing a smile to her face before she spoke, "What are you thinking about?" the mother asked softly, giving her daughter the same smile.

Anslee was pulled out of her thoughts when she'd heard Rachel speak to her. She looked up, shaking her head, letting a sigh escape her lips, "I'm just confused," Anslee answered.

Rachel frowned, taking a step closer to the teen, "Confused about what, sweetheart?"

The seventeen year old blinked as she looked away from the woman towards the restaurant and then back, "Him," she spoke, "he's acting so...different, like he wants something to do with me after eight years, eight years," she emphasized, "It's so frustrating because as soon as I'm hurt and I'm not okay, he swoops in and acts like father of the year, and it's driving me insane," Anslee continued, her eyes involuntarily filling with tears, "He's making an effort and it makes me want to hate him so much for waiting so long, but he's making it so difficult, and I have no idea how to feel about any of it." she reached up to wipe her cheeks of the tears that had spilled their way onto her cheeks.

Rachel could see in her eyes how internally conflicted her child was, and she didn't blame her, how could she? "Anslee, I've told you time and time again, he's always loved you, and he's always held a place in his heart for you and always cared. He's had very odd ways of showing it and believe me, there's a lot more going on behind the scenes that you'll know when you're ready. Just trust me on this one, Ans," Rachel reached up to wipe away some smeared mascara on Anslee's cheek with her thumb, "Please, just give him a chance, Anslee, you've got to stop pushing him away and let him in." Rachel smiled just as the car pulled up.

Anslee got into the backseat and Rachel got in the passenger, both fastened their seatbelts and Harvey took off towards Rachel and Anslee's apartment. The ride was silent until Harvey broke it, "I'm going to come up to the apartment for a few minutes, but then I've got to run, Jim called while I was getting the car and wants me to meet him at the precinct, shouldn't take long, just wants to discuss some things about our current criminal priority."

Rachel looked over at Harvey with a smile, "Fine by me, just watch yourself," The woman chuckled slightly while Anslee raised an eyebrow in the back, realizing Rachel didn't talk much about what was going on in her cases and what lunatic the police were after now, which was odd for the woman considering Anslee was like her diary when it came to ranting about work and whatnot. The rest of the car ride continued in silence, as had the elevator ride back up to the apartment. When they'd gotten inside, Anslee bolted to her room so she could change her clothes and text Jenni so she could get the 411 on what had happened at practice since she couldn't be there.

Slipping her shoes off in the midst of entering her room, Ans headed to her bed where she'd left her phone earlier before they had left, not wanting to take it with her to dinner figuring it would be rude at such a highend place. Although, when she looked on her bed it had not been there. Frowning, the girl moved her pillows and blanket to see if she'd let it slip behind there. To no avail it was not there. Perhaps she'd brought it into the kitchen and left it there. Anslee strolled out of her room and passed her mother's where she'd heard the two adults muttering conversation, but she paid no continued to the kitchen. After an unsuccessful search, she'd peered at a cell phone on the table.

"Hey Harv, i can't find my phone, can I use yours to call mine?" Anslee called from the kitchen.

A second later she got a response, "That's fine," the man's voice called back.

"Thanks," Ans called back before picking up the phone, swiping the screen unlocked and clicked on the phone icon in the corner. Harvey's call logs popped up first, Anslee merely glanced at it before moving her finger to click on the keyboard option before she paused, noticing something odd. There was no recent call with Jim Gordon on his logs, which meant he'd...lied when he said that Jim called and wanted him to go to the precinct that night.

"What are you hiding?" Anslee muttered to herself as footsteps sounded into the kitchen.

"Find your phone?" Harvey's voice asked.

"Uh," Anslee stuttered, switching the call logs to the keyboard and quickly typing in her number, hitting call in a split second, "Just waiting on it to ring," she looked up to Harvey with a smile as her ringtone could be heard from her room, "Probably fell in between my bed and the wall, thanks again, Harv," the girl set his phone down on the table before rushing back to her room, finding her cell phone in exactly that area. But, by now she'd abandoned the plan to text Jenni, instead she wondered where Harvey was really going. She'd deduced going to Rachel about it probably wasn't the best option at the moment and maybe she'd have to find out for herself what Harvey was really up to herself.

Anslee had gotten ready for bed like she normally did every night and told Rachel goodnight, pretending to go to sleep, while in reality she'd just stayed up until she heard Rachel go to bed, which had ended up being around 11:30 to her surprise considering Rachel was a big advocate for getting all your rest in at night. When she was sure her mother was asleep, Ans had opened her door softly and tiptoed into the kitchen where she'd wait for Harvey to return so she could interrogate him herself. While she waited, she poured herself a glass of water, sipping it every so often as she scanned over the files on the kitchen table that belonged to her mother. They all seemed basic and boring until she came across a file labeled 'JOKER' in big black bold letters. Frowning, Anslee set her water down and opened the file, finding an array of pictures taken by bank security cameras of a man with a medium build. It looked to be white, red, and black grease paint covered his face like clown makeup, a big red smile painted on his mutilated cheeks that looked to be scarred. His greasy drug-store dyed royal green hair hung at his shoulders at all different angles. This was the man who'd robbed the mob bank the same day as her accident. Anslee moved the pictures aside, setting them on the table before leaning against it, holding the file open in one hand while the picked her glass of water back up, taking a sip as she scanned the file.

"Suspect Lau fled to Hong Kong immediately after meeting at Wayne Enterprise," the brunette read out loud to herself in a mutter, raising an eyebrow, "Mob boss Gambol found dead in old meeting place of Carmine Falcone," she continued through. Anslee had nearly immersed herself so much in the file she almost hadn't heard the door to Rachel's apartment open and quietly shut. The teen looked up from the file as she heard footsteps near the enter the kitchen, low and behold, Harvey stood in front of her slightly confused.

"Anslee? What are you doing up?" He asked, frowning slightly as he looked at the girl with the file in her hand.

"Where have you been?" Anslee raised an eyebrow as she looked back at the man.

Harvey hesitated before answering her, "I told you and your mom, I went to meet Jim Gordon at the precinct."

Anslee snickered before tilting her head at a slight angle, "I'm not clueless, Harv, you said Jim called you and when I used your phone to call mine you didn't have any recent calls with Jim Gordon, who were you with?" the girl persisted, setting her glass down on the table as she stood up straight, the worst coming to her mind, "Don't tell me you're doing what I think you are."

Harvey's eyes widened, "What? No, of course not I'd never do that to your mother," he quickly defended himself, "I can see why you think that though, and I can explain," he spoke softly before glancing at the file in her hand, "Your mom leave those out?"

Anslee nodded, waiting for his explanation, "She hasn't talked to me much about anything work or case related lately, maybe you'll be able to fill me in."

The man chuckled before nodding, "I'll do my best, but I was with Commissioner Gordon, he did not call me though. I went to the precinct and turned on the signal for him, the Batman, Gordon came up and found me, and then the Bat showed up as I had intended. Lau, the man you've been reading about in that file, has had a bunch of affiliations with the mob here in Gotham, cleaned out the vaults in that bank on Friday and left behind only the marked bills the Bat gave Gordon so we could track them. Which, unfortunately means we've got mob spies infiltrating our offices. Lau fled back to Hong Kong after your dad pulled out of a business deal that could have been disastrous had he not. We know he aided in stealing the money and has some himself, and we want him back. That's where Batman came in, I need him to get Lau back here for me so we can liberate and interrogate him, hopefully to throw him in prison." Harvey spoke in a hushed tone.

"And this Joker guy?" Anslee looked back down to the file.

"He was the leader in the grand scheme of things, the bank robbery, and we think he killed Gambol, a fellow mob boss, and is now running with Lau and the rest of the baddies like Maroni."

Anslee nodded her head, happy to at least hear Harvey wasn't sneaking around with another woman and using his work as an excuse, "Thanks for not being a total douche," she smirked at the man.

"What kind of man would I be if I broke the heart of a woman who could ruin my life?" He smirked back at her.

"Now that that's cleared up, I think I can sleep soundly tonight, I'll see you in the morning," Anslee smiled, setting the file back on the table and heading to her room. At least this city had one politician that wasn't high on power and his ego.


	12. Nico Gargano

Six thirty AM had rolled around too fast in Anslee's opinion, then again she never was a morning person, she much rather preferred the Night Owl /Or bat if you get me/ Life. But when her alarm went off for her to wake up for school, she rolled over with an audible groan to turn off her alarm. Before she'd been able to even roll back over to go back to sleep, her door opened and the light was turned on.

"Rise and Shine," rung Rachel's voice a little too dapper for Anslee's liking.

"Mom," Anslee groaned, sitting up a bit to look at Rachel who was already up and ready for her day, "You never do this, what's the deal?"

Rachel strolled into Anslee's room, bottles in her hand filled with medication, stopping at her desk and setting them down, "Just laying out your meds, making sure you take them before you head out, you tend to be very forgetful in the morning, you should try going to bed earlier," the mother snickered, opening each bottle and placing the correct amount of each on Anslee's desk.

"I'm fine with the amount of sleep I get, thank you," the teen sat up and rubbed her eyes, "I thought about what you said last night."

Rachel paused and looked over to her daughter, "What I said? You mean about your father?"

Anslee nodded, "It's not as easy as you're making it out to be, he missed the first eleven years of my life, and no one will even tell me why, I mean I'm almost eighteen years old and I can't be trusted to know why, and then Mr. Playboy Billionaire struts back into our lives and wants everything to do with us. I know you want me to give him a chance, but he's had seven years to build something and time and time again he's neglected it. I mean Harvey's made a better effort than him."

Rachel stayed silent, looking to the floor as she searched for the right words, "Anslee, he had to leave to better himself. After Joe Chill, the man who killed your grandparents, was murdered after his probation trial, Bruce was upset because he wanted revenge. And let's just say he went away to learn to control his need for revenge, it was a danger to himself and he couldn't stick around to watch those around him worry while he suffered with his internal issues. Honestly I never thought I'd see him again and he'd left before I could tell him I was pregnant with you, more so I didn't tell him. I didn't want to throw him off of what he was doing, I knew he needed the help and he wasn't in any position to take on the responsibility. As long as I'm being honest, I wasn't either. But when something comes as unexpected as you were, you've got to make sacrifices," Rachel looked over to the teen, "I think he's come to the realization he's missed out on too much, even after he came back and he's seen where he made his faults. I know how aggravating it seems, but at least he's made up his mind. This is your last year you've really got before you start college, don't waste it dwelling on any of this," Rachel moved from the desk and stood in front of Anslee, reaching down to kiss her head, "Get ready for school, I'll meet you in the car at seven thirty," she smiled softly before leaving the teen's room.

Anslee sat in her bed for a few more minutes contemplating what Rachel had told her. What had she meant by revenge? Did Bruce plan on killing Chill himself after the trial? And why didn't she tell him she was pregnant? Maybe he would have stayed and they wouldn't have to be dealing with all of this right now. They'd be happy as a family. But instead they were in this debacle. The brunette sighed to herself before getting out of bed and proceeding to get ready for her day.

XXX

Anslee had breezed through the first three periods of her school day with ease, she'd luckily hadn't missed much from the first three hours she missed for her doctors appointment the day prior. Now, during her fourth period study hall, the teen sat in the library going over a few things for an American History test she had coming up at the end of the week. Jenni sat at the table with her best friend, typing something vigorously on her laptop while softly humming the lyrics to whatever song she was listening to through her earbuds plugged into the PC.

Anslee flipped over a flashcard to write the date on it for a term before glancing up, seeing a boy enter the library with a few of his friends. This boy wasn't just any boy, this boy was Nico Gargano. Call it cliche, which it is, but he was the mostly popular senior guy in the high school. Captain of the Soccer team, Nico lead the team to victory at the state championship and could be friends with who he wanted when he wanted. Anslee would be lying if she said she didn't have the slightest crush on him just like every girl who'd ever lay eyes on the boy. Standing six feet three inches tall with pitch black hair and alive skin, if looks could kill, Anslee would have dropped dead on the spot any time he walked into a room. The girl watched as the boy and his friends, who she vaguely knew, joked around as they walked towards a table with their backpacks slung over their shoulders. A smile formed on her face as she heard him laugh, but before her Nico daydreams could persist, she was pulled out of her dream state when fingers snapped in front of her face.

"Hello? Anslee you still with us?" Jennifer asked, frowning as she pulled both earbuds out of her ears.

Anslee snapped out of it and looked back to Jenni, "What do you mean? I was still here," she quickly lied.

"You were most definitely hardcore staring at Nico," Jenni smirked before taking a drink out of her water bottle she'd picked up off of the table.

"Was it obvious?" Anslee whined, sinking low into her chair in embarrassment.

"Incredibly," Jenni put the bottle back down before gazing at her best friend, "You know if you really like him you should just tell him, I can guarantee you he'd most definitely be down to hang out with you. Do you know who you are? The daughter of Bruce freaking Wayne!"

"Stop reminding me," Anslee groaned before sitting back up in her chair and picking her pencil back up, "It's not worth trying to get him to like me now, year's almost over anyways.'

"Well you do know what's coming up?" Jenni glanced over to Anslee, wiggling her eyebrows at her, "Proooom," she spoke in a singsong voice.

"No, you are out of your mind if you think Nico Gargano would ask of all people, me to prom, besides, I don't think I'm going anyways, it's a waste of money and you do nothing but overspend on dinner and then sweat for three hours on a hotel dance floor around people you hate," Anslee snickered across the table at her friend.

"That may be so, but it's Senior Prom, you can't miss out on Senior Prom, it's our last little farewell to this place, you can't miss it," Jen persisted with a frown, "Even if you don't find a date, we'll go as our own little group and neither of us will have to deal with a date."

Anslee thought on it for a second, "Okay, I'll settle on a maybe for now," she half smiled at Jenni.

"Good, because I went online prom shopping and happened to find a few dresses I thought would suit you, you know being your best friend and all, and you should take them into consideration," Jenni smirked, turning her laptop screen to the website for a local prom dress store in Gotham.

Ans rolled her eyes before pulling the laptop towards her, "Where oh where would I be without you, Jen?" she mumbled.

"I know I know, I'm great," The blonde responded with a snicker back.

"Do you think Nico noticed me staring at him?" She asked in a somewhat quiet tone as she scrolled through the archived prom dresses.

"Well, you could ask him, he is heading this way," the blonde looked at Anslee and then past her.

Anslee paused, looking up at Jenni, "What?" she asked before turning around to see, in all his hunky glory, Nico Gargano standing above her.

"Anslee, hey I was wondering if you had those notes from last Friday's American History class? I was out for a doctor's appointment and you're top in the class so I'm sure you take pretty good notes I can comprehend," The smooth voice of the fellow seventeen year old spoke.

Ans was a bit paralyzed looking up at the raven-haired boy for a few seconds before snapping out of it, responding, "Um..yeah, I wouldn't mind if you used my notes," she spoke quickly, rummaging through her book bag for her notebook.

"Don't worry about pulling them out now, how about you just send me pictures of them?" he chuckled, watching her scower her bag for the journal.

The brunette stopped and looked back up at the boy, "Uh, sure if that's easiest for you, I don't exactly have your number though," she nervously laughed.

"Really?" Nico looked dumbfounded, "Weird, I thought you did, well," he paused, leaning over to pick up one of Anslee's blank flashcards and her pencil, scribbling down a series of numbers, "Here you are." he smiled, handing her the card.

"Thanks," Ans smiled, taking the card from him, "I'll send you the notes when I get home, you know how school signal can be."

"No, thank you," Nico smiled in return, "By the way, heard about your accident on Friday, hope you're doing okay, looks like the guy did a number on you."

Ans paused for a second before nodding, "i'm fine, but thank you, things are healing well so far."

"Good to hear," Nico nodded, "Well I've got to head out, bell's about to ring and my next class is in the Senior Center, I'll see you around."

"See you around," Anslee managed out before he walked away.

Jenni and Anslee were left at the table in a mutual silence for a few seconds, "Oh my God, did that just happen?" Jenni finally spoke up.

"Yup," Anslee quickly answered, frowning as she replayed the scene in her mind. She sat for a few more seconds before the bell rang, signalling class had ended.

Both girls stood and gathered their things, "He's totally into you, you think he just gives out his number to anyone? He literally could have just taken the pictures of the notes himself." Jenni gushed.

"Hush!" Anslee prompted, slinging the bag over her shoulder with a small smile on her face, clutching the notecard with Nico's number in her hand tightly.


	13. I Know This Is Cheesy

The end of the day couldn't come quicker in all honesty, Anslee was eager to message Nico, even if it was just sending him notes. Rachel on one hand, had noticed Anslee's giddiness when she picked the teen up from school dance team practice, though Anslee couldn't participate, she was still captain and attended practice to critique and be a leader. Rachel decided not to question the girl's good mood considering this was the happiest she'd seen her daughter in days.

When Anslee made it into the apartment, she bolted to the kitchen table, where she set down her bag and dug into it to for her American History journal. Once retrieving the notebook, the brunette opened it and turned to the notes dated for the previous Friday. Ans quickly took snapshots of the note pages and went to her messages, typing Nico's number into the recipient box and then attaching the photos to the message before hitting send.

"Should I say something with it?" she murmured out loud to herself, "Or is that too much? Just the notes ok?" she overthought.

The pictures had gone through and the girl breathed a sigh of relief, there she went, the first, and probably last time she'd be texting Nico Gargano. Was she really excited just for that? "You've never seemed so pathetic Anslee," the girl snickered to herself as she set her phone back down on the counter. But before she could get to putting her journal back in her bag, her phone buzzed and lit up like she'd gotten a text. Anslee paused, looking to her phone before another small smile formed on her face, and she reached to pick up the phone.

When she opened up her phone, she found a reply from Nico, it read, 'Thanks again, Anslee, you're a lifesaver!

"Me? A lifesaver?" she smirked to herself before deciding to type back.

'Glad I could help, if there's something you're not quite getting, I'd be more than happy to explain.'

She hit send, hoping this would be an excuse to get more conversation with the boy. She went to set her phone down again, but it buzzed once more.

'How about tonight? We can meet somewhere.'

The message caught the brunette off guard at first, but she believed she knew what he was meaning.

'Haven't been cleared yet to drive by the doctor, how about tomorrow in the library?'

Send again, she figured it'd be another fast reply.

'I'll come pick you up in an hour, pizza on me and in return you can explain the lesson to me.'

With that message, Anslee immediately got butterflies in her stomach. Did Nico just ask her to hangout? No, this was strictly a school oriented study session. And she really wasn't trying to get her hopes up at this point, but as long as the offer was still standing, who was she to pass it up?

'Pick me up in an hour?' she typed, while attaching her address to the text and sending it.

'See you then.'

And with that last response, Anslee had the largest smile on her face as she leaned against the kitchen table, holding her phone tightly. Footsteps approached the kitchen, Rachel had entered and saw her daughter with such a wide smile. The mother raised an eyebrow with a chuckle.

"You seem...happy," she commented, "What's making you so smiley?"

Anslee looked to her mother, "Nothing," she lied, "Just going to get pizza and study with a friend from school."

Rachel crossed her arms with a curious smile, "Seems like it's more than just pizza and studying...are you going with a boy?"

"Mom!" Anslee exclaimed with an even wider smile, her face flushing red.

"Anslee Grace, what's his name?" Rachel laughed, seeing the embarrassment on her child's face.

"It's no one special, nosy," Anslee snickered, "But since your curious, Nico Gargano," she smiled.

Rachel nodded, "Alright, alright," the mother smiled, "I'm happy you're reaching out to new things, dating is unusual for you, but you deserve a nice boy, Ans, might let you stop stressing and take a deep breath."

Anslee rolled her eyes, "Okay, mom I get it, I'm a loner."

"Not what I meant, but that's besides the point," Rachel smirked, "I need to run an errand really quick, I'll probably be gone before you leave, so have fun, and be back at a decent time, and no funny business."

"Mother!" Anslee exclaimed wide eyed.

"I'm joking, partly, just have fun, alright? I'll see you in a bit." Rachel gave her a look before heading out the front door to the apartment.

Anslee smiled to herself, she was going to hang out...study, with Nico, perhaps things were starting to look up after.

The girl fixed herself up a bit, running a brush through her hair and applying a little more concealer over her bruises around her stitches on her forehead. She didn't want to get too done up since it was kind of open ended on what this really was. But the hour she spent cleaning herself up and reorganizing her room to keep herself occupied out of anxiousness went by quickly. It wasn't too soon until she'd gotten a text that Nico was downstairs waiting outside in his car.

Anslee typed back an 'On my way' before she grabbed her school bag and headed out the apartment door, slamming it behind her in a rush to get down to the first floor so she could meet the boy. When she'd finally made it, she smiled seeing him with the passenger window rolled down, smiling at her.

"You gonna get in the car or keep standing there?" he chuckled.

"Hush," Anslee laughed in return before walking towards the door, opening it, and getting in.

"I'm feeling Aurelio's, thoughts?" Nico looked to Anslee.

The girl nodded, "You read my mind," She smirked as the boy started driving.

After a ten minute drive filled with small talk, the two had made it to the pizza place and ordered, they now sat as one of the table, notes spread across the table as Anslee held a pencil in her hand, pointing at bullet points and explaining them, "So the Cuban Missile Crisis was basically a highlight of John F. Kennedy's presidency before he was assassinated in 1983, during this time, the US was using U2 Planes to fly over Cuba and get documentation that the Soviet Union was storing missiles there that could pose potential threats on the Unites States," she explained to him, looking from a bullet point to Nico, who was nodding in response.

"So I'm assuming the USSR knew the US was spying on them?" he looked to her.

"Most definitely, it's not everyday that you see high altitude planes with cameras on the bottom documenting your illegally stored missiles," Ans laughed, "The President of the USSR even lied straight to JFK's face about having the missiles in Cuba, pretty ballsy thing to do if you ask me."

Nico laughed before nodding in agreement, leaning back in his chair, "You make history sound so much more interesting than Mr. Bright does."

Anslee smirked to him, "That's a bold statement, he's quite the character."

"That may be so," he shrugged, "You've just got this spark in you that really shows you enjoy it."

Anslee smiled, "I love history, honestly, it's always just clicked with me."

"Yeah," Nico smiled at her before the two were interupted by the waiter dropping off their drinks along with their pizza.

"I think a break is in order to eat?" Anslee laughed, taking a slice of the pizza and setting it on her plate in front of her. Nico had done the same and the two sat in silence before the raven-haired boy across from her had sent down his pizza and looked to her.

"So I saw you were looking at prom dresses earlier," he looked to her.

Anslee paused, swallowing her bite as she looked back at him, "They were just a few things that Jenni had found that she thought I might like, nothing special, I really don't think I'm going honestly."

"You mean to tell me that no one has asked you to prom?" Nico asked almost astounded.

Anslee shook her head, not really finding the statement as out of the ordinary as he had, "No, it's not a big deal though, I'm not one of those people who take it super seriously."

"Well I think it'd be a huge waste of your senior year to not go," Nico announced, sitting back in his chair with his arms crossed over his chest, "And I think the dark green dress would be stunning on you."

Anslee looked to her lap, pursing her lips into a thin smile, "Thank you," she blushed, "I told Jen maybe I'd go, but I wasn't for sure," she looked back up at him.

"Well just so happens I don't have a prom date," the boy commented, looking to the girl across from him.

Was he really insinuating what she thought he was? Was this REALLY happening? She wanted to pinch herself, but she figured it would make her look dumb.

"Now that's a surprise," she spoke, picking up her drink and taking a sip of it.

Nico smirked at the girl across from him, reaching forward to take a slice of pizza, "Anslee, I know this is cheesy, but would you like to be my prom date?"

The brunette nearly spit out her drink before she started laughing, "Incredibly cheesy, dork," she laughed more before finally regaining her control, giving him another smile, "I accept your invitation to prom, Nico."

The boy let out a sigh of relief, looking to Anslee with an even wider smile, "I've been waiting to ask that for a few weeks, really, I just never could figure out how and we'd really never actually hung out or really had a conversation before, I'd really taken an interest with you this year in history. You stand out in that class and it's amazing."

"You've held in a thing for me nearly all year and choose prom time to tell me?" Anslee laughed, "Props to you, I'm impressed." she spoke, finishing off her first slice of pizza.

"What can I say?" Nico laughed as well, finishing off his slice.

"So you really think the emerald green one looked nice?" she asked, reaching for another slice of the pizza.

"Stunning," Nico smiled in return, reaching for his drink and taking a drink from it.


	14. Dismissed

A/N So I've really never done an author's note because I never really need to, but I wanted to clear the air for people asking :), if you can't already tell, this is incredibly AU, and I kind of manipulate the timeline to help my story fit with what DCCU had going on with the Dark Knight Trilogy, and the way I see it, Bruce and Rachel are about mid thirties in these movie portrayals, and Anslee is nearly eighteen in my story, making Bruce and Rachel around nineteen or twenty when Ans was born. I know that seems young, but I reference Rachel making it through law school while raising a baby, and use these ages and details as an advantage for character build. In the end, the grand scheme is to help define Rachel and Bruce with their personalities and capabilities they have. Hopefully that clears things up a bit, but if you still have any further questions, my inbox for PM's are always open!

XXX

When Rachel had left Anslee alone in the apartment earlier, she was on a mission. Well, that's how she liked to think of it, it was more so the goal was getting through to Bruce. She arrived with confidence at Bruce's penthouse, finding the smallest bit of appreciation in the fact he moved himself back to the manor for a weekend just for the sake of their daughter's happiness. Oh how Anslee had hated that penthouse after the first night of staying in it.

Rachel had knocked on the door, finding it to be immediately by Alfred, which was't a surprise, "Miss Dawes, a pleasant surprise," the old man smiled, moving out of the way so he could gesture her inside.

"Hello Alfred," the woman smiled in return, walking inside, taking in the penthouse all at once, " I was hoping i could speak to Bruce, do you know where he is?"

"I'm afraid Master Wayne isn't here," Alfred frowned slightly, "he's been out for a few hours, I'm sorry, I could phone him for you to see how much longer he'll be."

Rachel smiled at the old man, approaching him, "It's alright, I just came at a bad time, I should have called first anyways, then again I don't usually expect Bruce to get out much."

"I believe he was at the hospital, the man who had attacked your daughter came out of whatever he was in, he's been out cold since the Batman did that number on him," Alfred explained, "wanted to know what was going to happen to the thug."

The news hit Rachel like a ton of bricks, leave it to the Batman in Bruce to follow up with these kinds of things. Like Anslee, Rachel wanted to hate him for it, but he cared, and she failed to find the bad in that. "Oh," she spoke, her mind almost blanking for a second, "I see, well, I was able to speak to Jim Gordon on the phone, the guy who attacked Ans has been on a wanted list for awhile now, they plan to put him on trial soon."

"Quite fortunate in the least, unfortunate his apprehension had to come with the price of injuring a loved one, both Master Wayne and I could tell things had shaken up the young miss quite a bit this past weekend." Alfred looked to the floor slightly.

"She's woken up almost every night from nightmares about it, I make her sleep with her door open for now so I can hear her, I feel bad and I just want to get up and cradle her until things were okay like when she was little, but times have changed and she'd scold me if I tried." Rachel sighed.

Alfred took a step forward, placing a hand on Rachel's arm comfortingly, "When the time comes she'll open up about it, you've had your experience with difficult people and their facades," the man gave her a knowing look, implying Bruce, "Growing pains are the worst," he smiled.

Rachel had looked the man in the eyes, a smile forming as he spoke about her experiences, "Thanks Alfred," she spoke, "I should be getting home, Ans is out with a friend and I want to make sure I'm home when she gets back." Rachel headed for the door.

"I see, have a nice night, Miss Dawes," the man smiled to her as she left.

Rachel got back into her car, her mind racing to too many different places. Bruce had really gone to the hospital without telling her. She really could only imagine what Bruce's intention was upon doing so, nor did she really want to know anyways. Putting it all out of her mind, Rachel started the car and began the ten minute trek back to her apartment.

XXX

Rachel got back to her apartment quickly, she had put the key in the lock of the door and turned the handle, pushing the old door open and walking inside. The woman walked down the small hallway from the door to the kitchen. When she turned the corner she'd nearly jumped. There sitting at her kitchen table was Bruce, patiently sitting with a nonchalant look on his face. When he'd noticed Rachel enter, he smiled slightly, "Hope you don't mind, I used the key under the welcome mat, no one answered when I knocked and I wanted to be sure things were okay."

"A call would have been nice at least, nearly gave me a heart attack, Bruce," Rachel groaned, setting her keys and her clutch on the table, turning to the fridge so she could get a drink.

"Alfred called and said you stopped by, I just so happened to be on my way home from the hospital when he told me, so I figured I'd stop by to see what had brought you to my humble adobe." the man stood from his chair and looked to Rachel.

Rachel had stopped what she was doing and looked to the man, "Before we even get to what I needed, were you planning on telling me you went to the hospital or why you went?" she raised an eyebrow.

Bruce paused for a second, slightly caught off guard by the question, "I just wanted to check on the status of things, in case you didn't know, that man nearly killed our daughter last Friday." He crossed his arms over his chest.

"Don't pull that with me, Bruce," Rachel snapped, "Why were you at the hospital when you know you could have asked Gordon on one of your nightly crusades?"

"I confronted him," Bruce answered immediately, looking down to the ground as if he were a disciplined child, "I gave him a piece of my mind and let him know he'd rot in jail where he belongs after what he did and everything he's done in the past. This man isn't just another guy I take off the street to keep the city safe, he's the man who messed with the wrong girl."

Rachel stayed silent. There he went again. She was just as confused as Anslee was. Rachel knew Bruce cared, maybe it was just because she'd never seen him work so hard to prove it. Maybe this was him really trying to go above and beyond in proving himself, not only to Anslee, but to Rachel, "The gesture was thoughtful, but we'll let the prosecution determine that, Harvey nor I are allowed to work the case for obvious reasons."

"I think Anslee should be a witness and speak at the trial," Bruce looked up to Rachel, whose face contorted to an angry yet surprised look.

"Speak at the trial?" she repeated, "Bruce don't you think she's been through enough? The last thing she needs to do is to face the man who tried to kill her in a room full of people, just let her get past it and finish out her year."

"It was just a thought, Rachel," Bruce snapped back, already annoyed with how she was quick to dismiss him, "I know she's been through enough, I'm trying my best here Rachel, I want to bring justice for Anslee." he let out the breath he's been holding in the form of a heavy sigh, "What did you need to speak with me about?" he asked, wanting to change the subject before he decided to walk out.

The two shared another silence before Rachel's voice seemed to echo in the apartment, "Bruce," she began, "I don't know how else to really say it, so I'm just going to throw it out there. Harvey asked me to move in with him, well, Ans and I to."

"Great," Bruce lied, a pang of hurt bigger than any of the ones he'd felt before hit him in the heart, The thought of his two girls moving in with another man angered him, he tried to hide his clenched fists from view.

Rachel took a few steps forward, reaching down to take of of Bruce's hand in her own, 'I sort of wanted your blessing."

Bruce looked up from his gaze at the floor to his hand in hers and then up to her face that held a saddened poker face, "Does he make you happy?" he asked in nearly a whisper. Rachel merely nodding as if saying yes was too hard to do, "Then you don't need my blessing. You have a career, you raised our daughter, you don't need any permission," he jerked his hand away from hers as he got up, turning to leave the apartment, he had more research to do on Gotham's current situation, The Joker.

"That wasn't the only thing I wanted to speak with you about," Rachel snapped, it was evident Bruce had tried to brush her off, "I thought about what you said, about Anslee knowing about Batman, and I still think it's a bad idea."

"You would," Bruce snickered, he was done with Rachel at this point and just wanted to leave.

"Will you let me finish?" she glared, Bruce held out a hand to let her know she had the floor, "Thank you. I think you need to spend more time with her. Harvey's been a good father figure-"

"I'm her father, Rachel," Bruce had raised his voice to a yell, turning to look back at the woman.

"You don't think I know that?" Rachel had raised her voice as well, "Do you know how hard it is to look at her sometimes? She's you, Bruce! Everything she does, her courage, her independence, her inability to let others in! It's all you!" she fought back, throwing her arms out in frustration. She took a few seconds before inhaling calmly so she could continue, "Harvey's been a good stand in father, but she needs you now more than ever. I think you should get her every weekend and then maybe do a few family dinners."

Bruce wished he could get more out of the both of them, but he was willing to take what he could get for now, "Alright," he muttered, standing for a few more seconds, determining whether he should say something more or just leave it at that. Ultimately he decided it was best to leave. Bruce began to walk towards the door when three knocks sounded at the door.

Rachel was quick to make her way to the apartment door, wondering who was knocking. Out of natural instinct, Bruce had followed her. Rachel had waited for a second before opening the door, hearing a familiar female giggle.

XXX

"I most definitely think Teddy Roosevelt was the better Roosevelt in office," Anslee laughed.

"No way, FDR trumps Teddy any day," Nico chuckled in return, "This one yours?" the boy had asked, coming across an apartment door.

Anslee stopped and nodded, "Yeah, I forgot to grab my keys though, there should be one under the doormat," the brunette smiled, bending down to move the doormat, finding the key wasn't there. She frowned, standing back up, "that's weird," she commented, "let's hope my mom or Harvey's home," she muttered, knocking on the door three times.

"I wouldn't mind waiting with you if no one's home, you can give me more compelling reasons as to why Teddy is better than FDR other than because he was named Teddy because he shot a bear and got a stuffed animal named after him." Nico teased her.

"Hush," Anslee giggled, nudging Nico before turning to see the door open and Rachel standing in the doorway with...Bruce behind her? Almost immediately, Anslee's smile had faded into a confused yet annoyed look, "Dad, what are you doing here?"

Bruce had figured it was Anslee, her keys were sat on the kitchen table and Bruce had left the spare on the kitchen counter, the one thing he wasn't expecting was the boy who was with her, he furrowed his brow, looking at Anslee with narrowed eyes. Rachel didn't even need to look at Bruce to know what he was doing, the look that Anslee returned to Bruce was enough to tell her, "Why don't you two come inside?" she suggested.

"Good idea," Bruce nodded with a slight smile, eyeing the boy Anlsee was with. Bruce had stepped out of the way while Rachel had motioned for Anlsee and Nico to follow her. The father had shut the door and followed the three back into the kitchen where him and Rachel had previously been arguing.

When they were all standing awkwardly in the kitchen, Anlsee spoke to break the silence, "Well since we're doing this now, this is Nico, we went to get pizza so I could tutor him in history, Nico, my mom, Rachel Dawes, and my...dad, Bruce Wayne," she hesitated looking to Bruce with disdain once more.

Nico had halfway known Anslee's family situation, she had opened up a bit to him on the way back to Anlsee's apartment when Nico had insisted he walk her up to her apartment since it was getting dark, so he knew how awkward this must have been for Ans, "Hello, Miss Dawes," Nico gave a nod to Rachel who had smiled in return, "Mister Wayne," Nico outstretched his hand for Bruce to shake, "I am Nico Gargano, and might I say it is an honor to be taking your daughter to prom." Nico smiled, glancing to Anslee giving her a wink.

Anslee's face had immediately dropped and flushed pink. Rachel's eyes however had widened and a smile spread across her face, "Prom? Ans you said he was just a friend."

All eyes were on Anslee and an embarrassed smile had spread across her face, "Yeah he was," she mumbled, "and then he asked me to prom with a literal cheesy line," she laughed.

Bruce could see by the look on Anlsee's face this boy wasn't just any boy, and he didn't have any reason to embarrass her, at least not for now. He had reached out and shook Nico's hand, "A boy finally built up the courage to ask Anslee to prom, huh?" Bruce smirked.

"Dad," Anslee groaned quickly, sending him a look that screamed STOP.

"I'm just giving him a hard time, Ans," Bruce looked to his daughter, a knowing smile on his face, "Quite the grip you got there, Nico, you lift?" Bruce commented.

"A bit," the boy smirked, "I mostly run, see, I'm going to school full ride on an athletic scholarship for soccer, so I've got to keep up what I've got." Nico chuckled slghtly.

"Mhm," Bruce nodded, looking at Nico, studying him, one last time before he decided he was done torturing Anlsee for the night, "listen, I would love to stay and chat, but I've really got to run, you know how work can be, you understand Ans?" Bruce looked to her.

"Oh I understand, Mr. Wayne, you really should get going," Anslee nodded, crossing her arms over her chest.

Bruce could sense the attitude rising, but knew exactly how to deal with her, he kept his smile, "Rachel, always a pleasure," he nodded, "Anslee," Bruce walked forward, engulfing Anlsee in a hug, reaching down to kiss the top of her head, he could feel the steam coming out of her ears as anger coursed through her from what he was doing, but that wasn't going to stop him, "Love you, babygirl," he spoke, ignoring the look she was receiving from his daughter before he gave one last nod to Nico and then headed towards the apartment door, letting himself out, a satisfied look on his face, although he hated the idea of his little girl with a guy like Nico. Bruce didn't know why, but he had a bad feeling about this boy.

Meanwhile back in the apartment, Anslee tried not tot fume in front of Nico.

"I've actually got to go as well, but I had fun, and we'll talk more prom stuff tomorrow, yeah?" Nico looked to Anslee.

The brunette in return looked to the boy with a forced smile, "Yeah, sounds good," she nodded, "I'll see you later, drive safe," she reached to his arm, placing her hand on it in a friendly way.

"Yeah, I'll see you later," Nico smiled, reaching down to kiss Anslee's cheek before looking to Rachel, "Pleasure to meet you Miss Dawes," he waved before turning to leave himself.

The two women waited for the door to close before Rachel looked to Anslee, whose faced was flushed by Nico's action, "Just a friend, huh?" Rachel raised an eyebrow with a smile.

"Mom! Hush!" Anslee shouted, immediately heading back to her room, the largest grin on her face.


	15. Cliqued

**SOOOOO hey everyone, no I'm not dead, surprisingly. Well, I'm a little over two weeks into my senior year of high school and the stress is here, applying to college and shit and doing auditions for dance programs, I really just want to die. I updated this because I also want to start a new story, but I didn't want to start a new story and leave this one hanging, so I came back to this. I feel like I rambled a lot in this one because I really wasn't sure where I wanted to go with this and basically improvised this entire chapter in three hours, so I feel like this one is a filler and really isn't detrimental to the book as a whole /maybe besides the very ending part/ so you could honestly probably skip this, but the idea of the next chapter may be a bit confusing. But don't worry we'll be getting back to all the angst and fun stuff next chapter. I also don't know if I'll be updating this again before I post my next book but we'll see! Thanks so much for reading and putting up with my constant procrastination. I hope to update more often because I am only taking three real classes while everything else is choir and dance. Happy reading and hope you enjoy this installment.**

 **XXX**

Anslee had gone to bed with the happiest feeling she'd had in awhile and for once in the past two weeks, her mind had avoided nightmares that night. She had even managed to wake up in a good mood the next morning; much to Rachel's pleasure, she was relieved things were finally getting back to normal.

Ans sat at the table in the kitchen with her mom, both of them sipping coffee; Rachel looking through her files on the table while Anslee scrolled through warm-up sequences her coach had sent her for the team on her phone. Both sat in happy silence before Harvey came out of the bathroom, toothbrush hanging out of his mouth and a trail of toothpaste down his chin, holding up two ties, looking for an opinion. Rachel and Anslee looked up at the man with identical smirks.

"Hmph er hmph?" Harvey gestured to each of the two ties with each hmph.

"Burgundy," Rachel answered nonchalantly going back to her files, making Harvey look to Anslee for her approval.

"I agree, the burgundy brings out your eyes," Ans nodded with a laugh.

Harvey muffled out a thank you as he turned back into the bathroom to finish brushing his teeth and put on his tie.

Anslee laughed again and went back to looking through the warm-ups when Rachel spoke, "So since your going to prom you're going to let me take you prom dress shopping, right?" the mother asked in an almost giddy tone as if she were a teenager again.

"If you really want to," Anslee shrugged as she took a sip of her home made chai latte.

"Why do you act like you don't really care about going? You seemed excited last night when you told us," Rachel frowned.

"I am excited, believe me," Anslee chimed, "I just don't want to make a huge deal out of it and get my hopes up."

"Hopes up for what?" The mother quirked an eyebrow.

"I don't know, I just always feel like some things are too good to be true sometimes and something always manages to go wrong," the brunette looked down at the table.

Rachel got up and walked behind Anslee to put her hands on her daughter's shoulders, "Don't say that, you deserve the world Anslee Grace, and I promise that nothing will go wrong." she reached down to kiss her daughter's head, "Now finish your coffee and let's go, we're leaving in ten minutes.

Anslee smiled to herself, she really didn't know what she would do without her mother. Rachel was her rock, and she loved her mom more than anything in the world. the teen looked up from the table and at Rachel, "Hey mom? I love you." she spoke with a smile.

Rachel stopped and looked back at her daughter with an equal smile, "I love you too, Ans."

 **XXX**

The car ride to school was short lived and Anslee actually looked forward to being at high school for once. Not only did she dish out what happened to Jenni as soon as she saw her, but she found a note in her locker from Nico inviting her to come sit with him and a few of his friends they were going to prom with, and of course, she could bring Jenni too.

"Nico Gargano asked you to prom?!" Jenni nearly yelled as her and Anslee were walking down the hallway to their first period class.

"Jesus Jen might as well tell the whole world!" Anslee looked to her best friend with wide eyes hoping she didn't draw any unwanted attention to the two.

"I'm sorry but this really is huge," Jenni gave Anslee a look, "I mean come on you can't tell me this isn't huge."

Anslee smiled to herself, "Yeah it's huge, but we don't have to tell everyone quite yet," Anslee nughed Jenni, "Now come on or we're going to be late to Government." the girl spoke, dragging her friend towards the classroom.

Lunchtime rolled around so slow Anslee thought maybe time had stopped on purpose, but once the lunch bell rang she nearly bolted to the cafeteria in anticipation to see Nico. The girl quickly went through the lunch line, grabbing a fruit medley and a water, before she made her way to the table where Nico usually sat with his friends, though she didn't see Nico there quite yet. Despite that, she was still given an invitation to sit with them, and she wasn't about to let him not being there get to her.

Anslee took a breath before walking towards Nico's table, where she saw a few familiar faces of his friends. As soon as she got close enough, one of the boys, Eric, who was a tall and lanky boy with blonde hair, noticed her and motioned to his friends that Anslee was approaching. One of the girls, Jessica, a medium sized girl with long sandy blonde hair who was captain of the Varsity Softball Team, turned to look at Anslee and smiled.

"Hey Anslee, Nico told us you were coming to sit with us, is Jenni coming too?" Jessica looked around for Anslee's friend.

"No, she needed a bit of help with AP Physics so she went to Mr. Hiducho for help, where do you want me to sit?" Anslee smiled back, feeling a little more comfortable now since his friends knew she was coming.

"Nico usually sits on the other side of the table," Jessica pointed to the opposite side of her.

"Got it," Ans smiled, walking around the table to sit next to the sear Nico usually sat in. Before she could even get her plastic fork out of the plastic it came in, she was already bombarded with a question from a girl in her pre-calc class named Rebecca.

"So Nico asked you to prom right?" the ebony-haired girl asked with an anticipated smile.

"Uh...yeah, he did, last night we went out for pizza so I could tutor him on some things for History and he asked me then," Ans replied, a blush dawning her cheeks as she remembered it.

"I sure did," chimed in the voice of Nico himself as he took a seat next to Anslee, not hesitating to reach over and kiss her head, making her blush deepen.

The group laughed and another boy, Silas, who was mixed and wore his hair in his natural short afro, spoke up, "It's about time, too. Man he wouldn't shut up about you Anslee, we were wondering if he'd ever grow a pair and ask." he joked.

"Hey, ouch," Nico put a hand to is heart faking hurt, "In my defense, I thought Anslee was going to say no and tell me she'd already been asked by someone else."

Ans looked over to Nico and rolled her eyes playfully, "Right, whatever you say," she laughed, playfully punching him in the arm.

"Believe me, or don't," he smirked, throwing his hands up in defeat.

"We don't" Jessica laughed, making the rest of the table laugh.

The group finally started to eat and made small conversation here and there until Anslee finally started to actually talk, "So this is the prom group?"

"Yup," Caroline, a blonde girl who was on the Volleyball Team, nodded, "All of us, plus a few others that aren't in this lunch period, most of us went together junior year. The girls were going to go get out nails and hair done together on the day of prom if you want to tag along, we can add you to the appointment."

"Wow, really?" Anslee smiled, "Yeah that'd be awesome, I'd have to check with my mom first, but that sounds awesome."

"Then it's settled, Anslee, welcome officially to the prom group," Nico smiled to her, making her blush again.

 **XXX**

As if the week couldn't get any better, Anslee had almost forgotten that Rachel and Harvey were taking her to the Ballet that Friday, and just like lunch on Monday, the time leading up to Friday seemed like it couldn't go any slower. Although, she did get to spend more time with Nico and Jenni was finally able to join them for lunch and quickly cliqued with the group.

Anslee stood in her room, putting a pair of gold stud earrings in her ear piercings to accent the same burgundy colored dress she wore the night Bruce had crashed dinner with Harvey, Rachel, and Ans. Saying Anslee was excited for this performance was an understatement, she was raving about it ever since Rachel and Harvey gave her the tickets, she gave everyone an earful about it when they asked her about it. Having this night finally here was a dream come true and almost seemed unreal.

"Ans, come on, sweetheart, we have to get there early to beat the crowd, yeah?" Rachel stood in the doorway of her daughter's room clad in a black dress with her hair back and out of her face in a low fancy bun, Rachel was the epitome of beauty and Anslee always admired how she looked nice and pretty no matter what time of day it was. She was even envious to say her mother could rock the sweatpants and messy bun look better than she could.

"Coming," Anslee answered, turning to grab her clutch and then following her mother towards the front door while Harvey stood in a suit out in the hall of the complex.

 **XXX**

"Slow down, Ans, our seats are still going to be there when we get in," Harvey called to Anslee who was already five steps ahead of him and Rachel. He was happy the girl was excited for the performance. Even though it was Rachel's idea to get her the tickets, he was still happy he could be a part of the gift giving and getting to take her.

"It's not every day you get to see the Moscow Ballet, Harv," Anslee turned to look at him and stopped, waiting for the two to catch up.

Rachel smirked at her child's giddiness, "We know, we know," The mother looked to her daughter with a knowing look.

"Come on it's just up ahead," Anslee urged them, walking towards the performance hall faster than Harvey and Rachel, but when she had finally made it to the front of the building, she approached the box office only to stop dead in her tracks, her smile fading as her heart dropped into the pit of her stomach.

Rachel frowned seeing the life leave Anslee's movement, "Ans, what's up, baby?" she asked as her and Harvey joined Anslee in front of the box office. Across the window was a large gray sign with big white lettering reading 'Performance Cancelled'.

"This is a joke right?" Anslee muttered out, frowning, when upon closer inspection there was a pinned up newspaper article.

"Love Boat: Billionaire Absconds With Entire Russian Ballet," Anslee read aloud, looking at the picture of a boat and then below it, a picture of none other than Bruce Wayne himself, as her blood boiled and anger filled her every being.

"Oh my God," Rachel muttered out loud as she turned from the newspaper article, rolling her eyes, annoyed with Bruce very much at the moment.


	16. Joker

**ANOTHA CHAPTA. Enjoy my loves ;) she's a long one**

 **XXX**

"Really Bruce? The one time you know something for Anslee is coming up, you take the entire ballet on a yacht getaway for the weekend." Rachel scolded the brunette man standing across from he, leaning in the doorway of is penthouse nonchalantly.

"I know and I'm sorry, but Rachel I couldn't let Laue get away and you know that, I got him back in America just for you to interrogate and prosecute." Bruce shot back, standing up straight.

"That doesn't matter Bruce!" Rachel snapped at the man, raising her voice a bit, "Laue is the least of my care. I care about my daughter! OUR daughter! And you set everything you guys built up that weekend aside for your own selfish needs of becoming the authority in this city, that's what the police are for and Harvey as well!"

Bruce clenched his fists, "Can't you see it's all for her? Everything I'm doing to clean up this city isn't for me or for anyone else. It's all Anslee and I don't understand why you can't see that. I love her just as much as you do, Rachel, and I want to do everything to keep her safe because I don't have much time left with her. I'm trying my best here to be there for her, I really am," The man took a deep breath, scowling at Rachel.

The woman took a deep breath, regaining herself before glancing at the ground and back up again, "I think we both know it's more than that."

The two sat in silence for a few agonizing seconds before Bruce looked Rachel in her eyes, "I love you Rachel, I always have and I never stopped," he muttered, his heart yearning for Rachel more than ever.

"I know, Bruce," Rachel muttered as well, looking at the floor, "But you know why this can't work, us, I told you, give it up and we could talk, but it's too late for that now."

Bruce nodded, knowing the answer, "I know...I know," he mumbled out.

"I've got to get to the precinct, I'll be back to pick up Anslee on Sunday, fix this with her, or at least try." Rachel looked back up at him.

"I'll see you Sunday, call me if you need anything." Bruce nodded, watching as Rachel turned to leave, finally shutting the door to the penthouse when she was out of sight.

He turned back to see the view of Gotham City from the suite. How he loathed being here when he had Anslee. He knew she hated it more than him and it made him feel terrible she'd be confined here for the weekend, though he was going to try to get her out of the suite and take her to do something, but staying in the manor was too risky when it came down to if something were to happen concerning The Joker or Laue. He needed to be able to be there as soon as possible But, as much as he wanted to avoid it, he had to be the bigger one and confront the conflict between them at hand.

Bruce slowly made his way from the front door towards Anslee's room of the penthouse, one with the best view of the city in his opinion. He was only a few feet away and he could already hear the rapid clicking of keys on a keyboard signaling she was on her laptop ready to ignore him. He stood outside her door for a few seconds before knocking on her cracked door with his knuckles. As expected, he got no response from the seventeen year old.

"Ans?" Bruce nudged the door open a bit, but still, the teen ignored him, "Anslee Grace," he spoke in a bit more of a stern voice.

The girl stopped typing and glanced up at her father, "Yes?" she asked, the previous disdain in her voice prominent.

"I was hoping we could talk," Bruce answered, strolling into her room with his hands in the pockets of his Dickies dress pants.

Anslee stayed silent like Rachel had done earlier, sighing before finally speaking, "You know how much I was looking forward to seeing that performance and you knew how important that was to me. I just wish I knew why." she looked up at him with anger and hurt in her eyes.

"Anslee I-" but Bruce stopped himself, trying to think of what to say, the right thing to say, "Anslee I had to take care of some business and I needed a cover of some sort to keep the public eye off of me specifically, I know it sounds confusing, and I wish i could go into detail and explain everything, but I can't. I promise you'll know soon and it'll all make sense."

Anslee could tell that Bruce was rambling and he really couldn't come up with a halfway decent excuse, and it annoyed her more than anything, "First the ballet and then you bring up that. Soon I'll know everything, I just won't understand. I feel like that's all I've been hearing and it bothers the hell out of me. When is soon? When will I be ready to understand in your and mom's eyes. I can't stand being out of the loop like this and I'm so done being told I won't understand. I'm nearly eighteen years old and I can't even be in the loop when it comes to things with my own life."

Bruce looked down at the floor, carefully taking a seat on Anslee's bed, "I know, Anslee, and I'm so incredibly sorry. It really slipped my mind and I spaced that you were attending it, had I remembered I swear I wouldn't have touched it. Like your mom said, it was selfish of me to do that to you, and I genuinely am sorry. I know it's frustrating and I know how much you want to be in the loop but there are things you really aren't ready to know yet, and believe me, I'm fighting to put you in the loop, but your mom doesn't want you to know. That isn't me putting the blame on her, I just respect her wishes and I don't want to see you hold that against her." he spoke in a soft voice.

Just like Bruce and Rachel had earlier, the two sat in a silence that just seemed to drag on and on. Bruce wasn't expecting her to accept his apology at all, and he didn't blame her at all, he screwed up big time, just like he'd done in the past, and she was always one to hold those faults against him. But what could he say? He never could hold her trust for long. "Okay." the girl spoke, pursing her lips as she stared at the comforter, looking as if the gears in her mind were working and she were contemplating something.

"Your stitches are healing well, bruise is basically gone," The man spoke, wanting to know how she was doing physically since her accident.

"The doctor cleared me to drive but I'm still out of practice for another week," The girl spoke, "Bruises on my side and my shoulder are nearly gone too."

Bruce smiled a bit hearing she was doing well and she was finally starting to get back to her normal self, "I'm glad to hear that, your mom mentioned an end of the year showcase for the dance team, were you going to tell me about that?"

Anslee still didn't meet his gaze as she spoke, "No use, you're not going to be able to come just like everything else."

"Because I was always told at the last minute," Bruce defended himself quickly.

"And whose fault is that?" Anslee finally looked up at him, her lips still pursed in a way that made her look like Rachel.

Bruce stayed silent, she asked a great question. Whose fault was it? He waited a second before answering, "I think there's more than one guilty party here, Ans."

The man got up from her bed and walked towards the door before turning back to look at her, her eyes were glued to him as if she watched him like a hawk as he left, "You've got picks for what's for dinner."

"You mean you're actually going to be home for dinner?" the brunette cocked a brow.

Bruce smirked back at her, "You dismiss me so easily. I cleared my weekend for you, Anslee. I'm not leaving unless there's a real emergency that needs my attention."

Anslee was obviously caught off guard by Bruce's actions. He made time...for her?

"So we're going to sit in this penthouse all weekend being miserable together? Wow, that takes some real dedication, Mr. Wayne, I'm honestly impressed." a sarcastic smile crossed her face, the tension in the air rising as the girl tested her boundaries and purposely pushed her father's buttons, almost as if she were challenging him.

"No actually," Bruce looked down at the ground and then back up at Anslee, "I was thinking we could get outside of the penthouse, do something just you and I."

"Daddy-Daughter dates were cool when I was nine," she automatically retorted back to him, wanting to add that Bruce wouldn't know that because he wasn't around when she was nine, but figured perhaps that would be a little too cruel, and she wasn't that type of person. Little did she know it was already crossing Bruce's mind, and he told himself that he couldn't even be hurt by it because it was true.

"Well I guess they're making a comeback," Bruce shot back with a sarcastic smile like Ans had earlier, he could already see the annoyed expression on her face beginning to form, "You can pout all you want, Anslee, but we're still going, and you will not spend your weekend cooped up here, no matter how stubborn you are."

The two stood in a stare off until Anslee finally caved, "Alright, fine," she spoke in a small tone.

"Maybe since I'm trying to make an effort, you should too, yeah?" Bruce gave her a knowing look before turning to leave once again, "And by the way, I need to know dinner ideas in an hour."

Anslee groaned in response to the way Bruce was being. It annoyed her to an extent she couldn't even begin to explain. But, as long as she was given the freedom to make some sort of decision this weekend, she wasn't going to pass up the opportunity, plus she'd barely eaten lunch at school that day.

"Can we get takeout?" the teen called back to him.

"Write your order down!" Bruce called back to the girl.

Anslee smirked to herself, "Remember what mom said, Ans, make an effort with him, give him a chance."

 **XXX**

An hour and a half later, Anslee and Bruce sat the dinner table, their multiple boxes of takeout spread across the table. Ans had her laptop sitting in front of her on the table with a website pulled up with prom dresses. The hunt was one for the prom dress of her dreams.

Bruce sat at the other side of the table watching as the girl scrolled through her laptop, he was glad he could get her out of her room to join him for dinner, but having her distracted on her laptop was not the goal.

"Anslee," Bruce spoke, trying to get her attention.

The brunette looked away from her laptop screen as she used her chopsticks to take another bite of her rice, once she'd chewed and swallowed, she replied, "Yes, Mr. Wayne?"

"I'm flattered you joined me for dinner, but I'd be even more flattered if you would not spend that time on your laptop." Bruce crossed his arms over his chest.

"I'm prom dress shopping, I really don't have time to waste because I got asked so late," she replied, setting down her box of rice so she could type in the URL to a new website.

Bruce raised an eyebrow, "You still haven't found anything? Your mom hasn't taken you to look?"

Anslee sighed, "She did, a few times, but I haven't found anything that I like," she spoke in a defeated tone, "I feel like I'm going to be in everyone's last pick as a prom dress."

Bruce watched at how her demeanor had gone from an attitude ridden one to one that seemed almost upset in a way. Bruce hated seeing her that way period. "Well," he began as he tried to think of something to say, it wasn't until after a few seconds, it finally came to him, "Anslee what if I took you prom dress shopping tomorrow?"

Anslee looked up at her father, a look of confusion on her face, "You want to take me to go prom dress shopping tomorrow? Where? Mom and I have already been everywhere we could think of."

"Well," Bruce said again, sitting back in his chair in a relaxing way, "You haven't been to my side of town when it comes to shopping, Anslee Grace."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Anslee frowned.

"You'll see tomorrow," Bruce shrugged with a smirk.

 **XXX**

The next morning rolled around quickly, both Bruce and Anslee had gone to bed in relatively good moods considering they'd avoided any sort of bickering that night. Bruce was able to get a little work done with his current preoccupation as Batman. This Joker character was quite the elusive being, and deciphering his purpose was difficult for the detective.

Bruce walked down the stairs adjusting the cuff of his dress shirt that was neatly tucked into his dress pants, Alfred was up and going as normal, looking over a few papers that had to with the fundraiser Bruce was throwing for Harvey, and Anslee sat in one of the love seats in the living room with a cup of coffee in one hand and the Gotham Gazette in the other, the morning news hummed lightly in the background. Bruce couldn't help but notice how much she looked like a young Rachel lounging in her pajamas on the couch. It brought back pleasant memories from his and Rachel's teen years.

"I think your fundraiser will be a great success, sir," Alfred spoke up, seeing Bruce come down the stairs, which made Anslee glance in his direction.

"And why do you think I want to hold a part for Harvey Dent?" Bruce smirked back at the older gentlemen.

"Well, I assumed it was your usual reason for socializing beyond myself and the scum of Gotham's underbelly: to try and impress Miss Dawes," Alfred gave Bruce a knowing look.

"That ship has sailed, Mr. Wayne," Anslee added in, taking a sip of her coffee before returning to the paper.

"Very droll, but very wrong, both of you," Bruce glanced between his daughter and his butler, "actually, it's Dent." Bruce went to continue, but was interrupted when the volume on the TV grew louder, and the voice of the newscaster rang out.

"Police released video footage concealed on the body," The woman spoke while footage of a man dressed like the Batman was lowered by a noose from one of the tallest buildings in Gotham, the caption of the report labeled 'Batman Dead?'. Anslee's heart leaped and she felt like the air had been knocked out of her watching this take place, "Sensitive viewers, be aware, this footage is disturbing."

The footage jumped from the scene in Gotham to what looked to be a home video, a man sat in a chair, more so strapped to the chair, a black cowl like the Batman's dawned his face. "Tell them your name," and eerie and high pitched voice hung in the air from behind the camera as the man in the chair trembled.

"Brian...Douglas," he stuttered out, and almost immediately an equally high pitched giggle rang out sending a chill through Anlsee's bones. No one in the room moved as they watched the footage.

"Are you the real Batman?" the high pitched voice asked the man.

"No." Brian answered bluntly.

"No?" the person behind the camera sounded hurt before letting out a throaty laugh, "Then why do you dress like him?" The person behind the camera reached forward to yank the cowl off the man's head, the voice of the unseen person turning to a more growled and darker tone. A series of maniacal giggles followed the taunting as the person waved the cowl in front of the screen, letting out hollers of enjoyment.

"Because he's a symbol that we don't have to be afraid of scum like you." Brian sputtered out once more, not backing down from his cause.

"Yeah, you do, Brian. You really do. Huh? Yeah." the man behind the camera spoke in a coaxing tone as he reached out to stroke the man's face roughly, making him whimper in retalliation, which made the mystery man shush him., "So you think, Batman has made Gotham a better place, hm?"

As there came no response and Brian was trying to avoid the man's gaze, the unseen man quickly became annoyed, "Look at me," he coaxed, still getting no response, "LOOK AT ME!" he spoke in a sinister tone making Anslee jump. But finaly, Brian met his gaze. The two stayed in silence before the the camera fidgeted and turned to reveal the man behind the camera.

A pale white face with black painted eyes and a red painted Glasgow smile over mutilated cheeks looked into the camera. The greasy green hair and yellow stained teeth were only accents to the horribleness of his face. This was, The Joker.

"You see, this is how crazy Batman's made Gotham," he spoke to the camera. By now, Anslee had already gotten out of her seat and moved away from the TV. This was something out of a nightmare, "you want order in Gotham," he breathed out, "Batman must take off his mask and turn himself in."oh, and everyday he doesn't, people will die. Starting soon. I'm a man of my word." he ended before letting out a hyena-like laugh and moving the camera away from his face. Brian began to scream for his life before the screen went blank and it went back to the newscaster again.

Bruce walked forward to turn the TV off so they wouldn't have to see any more of what was taking place. He turned to glance at Alfred, who looked back at him worriedly. Bruce then looked to Anslee, who had her arms crossed across her stomach and a blank stare focused on the TV screen. She looked as if she'd seen a ghost. Bruce just wanted to go up and embrace her, tell her it was going to be okay and that as long as he was there he wasn't going to let anything happen to her. But he didn't even have the courage to try and do that with how rocky things were getting between them.

The father opened his mouth to speak, but Anslee had beat him to it, "Where ever the Batman is, I hope he finds that Joker...and kicks his ass." she spoke before turning to head upstairs to her room.

 **XXX**

 **QUESTION: Does anyone want to read about Bruce taking her prom dress shopping? Because I already had an idea of how to skip to Sunday and Rachel picking her up and kind of allude to the fact Bruce bought her a prom dress she picked, but if you guys want to see it, i can write it, I just thought it was going to be too sappy since we're hopping back into the angst and the darkness since it's getting back on track with the movie, and as far as I know, it should be regularly staying on track with it from now on. I do have one chapter that's sappy planned for the future, and it should be coming up here soon which is why I wanted to skip the whole prom dress shopping scene, but if you guys want to see it, I'll muster up the muse to write it.**


	17. Dresses

**Hey so I'm back and I finally finished this update. I know it's short, but like I said two updates back, I had trouble with muse for this chapter, but I made it short and sappy and how I imagined it. I literally have this document labeled 'I Still Have Finite HW To Do' so I'm gonna post this and then do my finite hw. Love you guys and we should be getting back on track with the angst and TDK Timeline.**

 **XXX**

"What about this one, Ans?" Bruce held up a long dress that was a hue of baby blue, it had rhinestones in the chest area along with a halter top.

Anslee looked from around a rack she was at to see the dress Bruce held up, "Blue isn't really my color," she turned him down before going back to looking at the other prom dresses.

Bruce put the dress back with a shrug. If there was ever more of at time Anslee reminded Bruce of Rachel, it was now. Rachel was incredibly picky, she always had been, and Anslee reflected Rachel's knack for being picky right in that elegant dress shop. Bruce was grateful he had known the owner, for she was a long time family friend and made a few custom gowns for his mother years and years ago. She was more than thrilled when Bruce had given her a call, telling her he was taking his own daughter prom dress shopping that day. She'd gone to such lengths to literally shut down the entire shop just so Anslee could exclusively shop and look without any disturbance or the chance of someone picking the dress she wanted.

The father strolled towards his daughter, who had curled her hair and applied a bit of makeup, though it was barely noticeable, just to prom dress shop. Then again, you wanted to look presentable when trying on the elegant dresses, and he couldn't blame her for that. When he'd found her behind a rack of more dresses, a stack of dresses already draped over her arm.

"You've already picked quite a bit, want to go try them on and I'll keep looking, pick your favorite, you can have whichever one you want, an early birthday present from me," Bruce smiled to the girl, who actually looked back at him with what he thought to be genuine happiness in her own eyes.

"Will do," she smiled slightly back at him before she turned back to the dressing rooms she'd already been in what felt like a thousand times.

"Find more you like?" Mrs. Rosmerta, the owner of the shop, asked Anslee, standing up from her chair to aid the teen.

"Yeah," Anslee smiled, "I think maybe one of these could be the one," she said confidently.

"Lovely, dear," the woman smiled.

Anslee entered the dressing room and stripped off her outfit only to begin putting on the first dress she had picked, a short dress that was navy blue and had long sleeves made of thin lace. The rhinestones that lined the chest area of the dress glittered as she put it on. A minute later she turned the doorknob to her dressing room and stepped out, "Would you mind zipping up the top for me?" she asked Mrs. Rosmerta, who happily walked behind her and zipped up the dress.

Ans stepped into the viewing area surrounded by mirrors and analyzed the dress on her body, she liked the color and the rhinestones were gorgeous, but she immediately noticed a problem.

"What do you think of it?" The seamstress asked as she watched Anlsee.

"I think we can eliminate the short dresses, my calves are way to muscly to be wearing short dresses, I'll basically be flexing my leg muscles all night trying to walk in heals," she answered, glancing to the woman in the mirror, "But I like the color and design of the dress a lot."

"I see," the woman observed, "I think it looks darling on you, but if it isn't your favorite then I won't force it on you, perhaps you'd like to try on another?" she smiled.

"Sure," Anslee nodded she turned to head back to the dressing room, Rosmerta on her heels to unzip the back of her dress before she could make it completely inside.

While his daughter tried on dresses with Mrs. Rosmerta, Bruce had moved away from looking for dresses for Anslee. Instead, he browsed through the few suits that his friend had on display. Although Rosmerta had mostly dresses, she had tailored a few suits in her time, she really was a talented woman. While he tried to distract himseld, Bruce couldn't help but let his mind linger to the overwhelming joy the father had felt taking his baby prom dress shopping. Call it cliche, but Bruce really didn't have much time left with her, as if he hadn't already had enough reminding. This was a prime example of it all. He never got to see her first steps. Her first word wasn't 'Dada'. He didn't get to see her childish toothy grin as she got on the bus for her first day of First Grade. Now she was nearly an adult. She was taking interest in boys. With all he had missed, the least he could do was send her off to her first and last prom.

"Dad, I think I found the one! Bruce heard a seemingly excited Anlsee from the other side of the store. Bruce smiled to himself as he made his way towards the dressing area. Though he wanted to see the dress, Bruce was a bit confused to see Anslee standing in the entryway to the dressing room in her normal clothes, a dress in a garment bag was in her hand.

"Were you thinking of showing me maybe, then again I am buying it," Bruce smirked to his child.

"It's a surprise," Anslee shrugged.

"It's a gorgeous piece on her," Rosmerta piped up, looking to Bruce, "very modest but equally scandalous for her age, your daughter's got the eye for perfection, Mr. Wayne."

"Well, she is my kid," Bruce smiled in return, "Why don't we go check out and then maybe we can grab lunch, Ans?"

"Works for me, I'm starving," The teen agreed as she walked towards the entryway where Bruce was standing so she could go to the register. Bruce looked at her and if there was ever a time Anlsee looked like a carbon copy of Rachel, it was now.

"What are you staring at?" Anslee's voice interrupted Bruce's thoughts.

"Was I staring?" Bruce wondered out loud, "I'm sorry, I'm just admiring how gorgeous you are, Ans."

"Dad can we save the sappy stuff for another time, please?" Anslee frowned up at the man.

"Embarrassed, Anslee Grace?"

"Absolutely," Anslee whined as she pushed passed her father and headed to the registers.

"Difficult at this age, huh?" Mrs. Rosmerta smirked at Bruce.

The man just watched his daughter move towards the registers with her own little strut she'd adapted, "Oh you've never met someone like Anlsee, I'll guarantee you that."


	18. Wanna Know How I Got These Scars?

**Hi Missing in action here, how are ya? So I got random muse to right this and I may or may not write more? Don't really have much to say sooooo enjoy!**

 **XXX**

Anslee was in her room when Rachel had arrived the next day to pick her up around five o'clock. Alfred had let the woman in, where she found Bruce working out some last minute things for his fundraiser the next night.

"How did things go this weekend?" Rachel spoke, making Bruce look up from a few papers he was scanning over in his hands.

"Hey sorry, I didn't know you were here yet," he set the papers down and stood up, "I think we made some honest progress," Bruce smiled.

Rachel cocked a brow at the statement, "Oh? What did you do? Hopefully not stay here at the penthouse all weekend worried about Batman business," the woman glanced towards where Anslee's room was to make sure she wasn't listening in on them.

"No, actually," Bruce walked towards Rachel with his arms crossed over his chest, "I took her prom dress shopping yesterday and then we got lunch. She said she had some homework to finish up so we stayed here today."

Rachel looked almost astonished at the statement, "You took her dress shopping? As in prom dress shopping?"

Bruce smirked, "Yes, and she happened to find the one."

Rachel's confused frown slowly turned into a smile, "What does it look like? How does she look in it?"

"I don't know," the man shrugged, "She wouldn't show me and said it was a surprise. Although, Mrs. Rosmerta did say it suited her very well."

"Rosmerta's hm? Wonder where you got that idea from," Rachel smirked back at him.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Bruce smiled back to the woman.

Before Rachel could respond, another voice rang out.

"Hey is mom here? I thought I heard-" Anslee spoke as she strolled out of her room, but seeing as Rachel was there, she cut herself off, "Hi mom," she smiled.

"Hi, Ans," the mother smiled at her daughter, "Why don't you get your stuff and we'll head out."

"You can leave your dress here if you want for now, I promise I won't peak," the father gave the girl a cheeky grin.

Anslee nodded before heading back into her room to gather her stuff.

Bruce turned back to Rachel, "You will be at the fundraiser tomorrow night right? And my invitation still extends to Ans as well."

"Yes, as far as I know, and I'm leaving that up to her," Rachel nodded, "though she doesn't seem to loathe you at this time so I think she's got a shot."

"Excellent," Bruce spoke just as Anslee made her way out of her room again with her backpack on her back, no dress in hand.

"Alfred don't let him anywhere near that dress while I'm gone," the teen smiled as she looked to the older man that had been organizing some fundraiser papers on the coffee table.

"You have my word, Miss Wayne," he spoke with a smirk as he looked back to the girl.

Anslee looked to Bruce and hesitated before she did something she never thought she would willingly do. She hugged him.

The embrace caught Bruce off guard, but he was quick to return it and hold onto this as long as he could. He couldn't remember the last time he'd felt this warm inside, like he was actually accepted for once, especially by someone like Anslee.

"Bye, dad," Ans spoke as she pulled away from him with a small smile.

"Bye, Ans, I hope to see you tomorrow night," the father smiled down at the girl.

"Perhaps," Anslee nodded in return before she turned to head towards the door to leave.

Rachel looked thoroughly surprised at what had just taken place, "Uh..bye Bruce," she smiled as she turned to leave with Anslee.

"I love you, Ans," Bruce called after the two, and he could see the girl stop and hesitate. He just wanted to hear her say it back. Or was he pushing his boundaries? He was about to find out.

The brunette looked over her shoulder to give Bruce a small smile. She couldn't bring herself to say it back to him. Not yet. She knew she didn't fully mean it, so why would she lie to him like that?

 **XXX**

Anslee stood in the elevator to get up to the penthouse where Bruce held his fundraiser for Harvey. It took a little convincing from Rachel for her to go, but ultimately, Anslee decided to go for Harvey's sake.

She wore the same burgundy dress from the night they'd ran into Bruce and Natasha at that fancy restaurant, but her hair was curled in a half up half down style.

Harvey and Rachel made small talk with each other before the elevator doors had opened and elegant music along with the chatter of about a hundred people sounded. Attached to Harvey's arm, Rachel stepped out followed by the teen. Anslee could sense Harvey was a bit uneasy and new to the elegance of such an event. Rachel stopped, and so did Ans.

"Harvey Dent, scourge of the Underworld, scared to death by the trust fund brigade," the woman snickered at him playfully before walking away from him, a smiled played on her lips as she looked at him from over her shoulder.

"Rachel!" he called after her.

"Some liquid courage, Mr. Dent?" The voice of Alfred approached a stranded Harvey and an idling Anslee. He held a tray with four tall glasses of champagne.

Harvey took one of the glasses, "Alfred, right?" he smile to the man.

"That's right sure," Alfred returned the smile.

"Rachel talks about you all the time," he took a sip from his glass, "You've known her her whole life!"

"Not yet, sir," Alfred joked back.

Harvey chuckled at the man's humor before glancing around the room, "Any psychotic ex-boyfriends I should be aware of?"

"Oh you have no idea," Alfred chuckle back before Harvey stowed away.

"Good evening, Miss Wayne," Alfred greeted the seventeen year old, "You look very elegant tonight."

"Thank you Alfred," Anslee blushed slightly, "dad hasn't peaked at my dress has he?" she asked with a smile.

"I kept my word, he has not one idea what it looks like," the man whispered to her.

"Good, thank you," Anslee smiled sweetly back at him, "speaking of which, is he around at all?"

"I'm afraid he hasn't arrived yet, but I promise you'll know when he has," the old man winked at her before going around to hand out champagne to those who haven't had a glass yet.

Almost as if on cue, Anslee heard the noise of a helicopter propelling near the building. Everyone turned to look out of the glass wall to see one landing on the launchpad just outside. Anslee nearly laughed out loud as she saw her father get out of the carrier and enter the room with three beautiful women at his sides.

"Oh my god," the girl muttered with a smirk.

"I'm sorry that I'm late, I'm glad that you all got started without me. Now," the man paused as he walked through the path the guests had cleared for him as he clapped his hands together, "Where is Harvey? Where is Harvey Dent?" he looked around before spotting him and giving him a smile, "The man of the hour. Where's Rachel Dawes?" he looked to see Rachel a few feet away, "she is my oldest friend."

Harvey looked over and held out his hand towards Rachel so she would join him. The woman walked towards him with a calm smile.

"You know when Rachel first told me she was dating Harvey, I had one thing to say. The guy from those God awful campaign commercials? 'I Believe in Harvey Dent', yeah nice slogan Harvey," Bruce gave the blonde man a thumbs up.

Anslee couldn't help but laugh with the rest of the crowd, Bruce was really trying to make a fool out of Harvey.

"But, you caught Rachel's attention," Bruce gestured to a less than amused Rachel, "And then I started to pay attention to Harvey and all he's been doing as our new DA, and you know what? I believe in Harvey Dent. I believe that on his watch, Gotham can feel a little safer and a little more optimistic."

The tone Bruce spoke in almost sounded genuine to Anslee, but she knew him too well by now to know he wasn't' really speaking from the heart. But that didn't stop Harvey from pridefully smiling.

"Look at his face. It's just the face of Gotham's bright future. Harvey Dent, let's hear it for him," Bruce spoke before an applause erupted in the room.

Anslee clapped for the man along with the rest of the crowd before it died down and everyone went back to their business. She quickly tried to make her way to her father so she seemed a little less alone in the room. But once she even got remotely close to where he had been just minutes before, she saw both her mother and father outside in deep conversation.

Anslee sighed in dismay and went to turn around, but she was stopped by a woman who looked to be in her fifties and a man in his sixties, it was obvious they were a couple, for the man's bow tie and pocket hankie had matched the woman's dress perfectly.

"My my, you must be Bruce's daughter," the woman spoke.

Anslee frowned slightly at the statement.

"She looks even more like him in person," the man stated as well.

"Uh..yeah, I'm am Bruce's daughter, Anslee...Anslee Dawes-Wayne," the girl introduced herself politely.

"My name is Thomas Elliot," the man held out his hand for Anslee to shake, "And this is my wife Marla."

"Hello," Anslee smiled at the two, shaking the man's hand firmly, "Not to be rude, but how do you know my father and how do you know I'm his,,,daughter?"

"Forgive our rudeness, dear. My husband owns Elliot Pharmaceuticals, we are partnered with your father's company dating back to when Thomas and Martha Wayne were still alive," Marla replied with a sweet smile, "And you do look just like your father, I just couldn't help but notice. I wouldn't put it past him to create such a gorgeous and lovely girl like yourself."

"Thank you," Anslee blushed a bit, "Well it was very nice meeting the both of you."

"Likewise," Thomas smiled down at the girl, "We hope to see you again."

After the Elliot's had left, Anslee looked back outside to see if her parents had been done talking. They in fact were, but they were also not outside anymore. The girl groaned as she looked around the room once more in an attempt to at least find someone she knew. She eventually found herself wandering the large room where no one she knew was even in sight. She stopped a few feet from the elevators and scanned the room once more, but she was nearly knocked off her feet when the sound of what seemed to be a gunshot echoed in the room. The guests of the party cried out at the sudden disturbance.

Ansee jumped backwards and quickly turned to see the white faced Joker enter the room with a shotgun in his hand, his comrades in clown masks filed in behind him. She felt paralyzed as she scanned the room again for her mother, Harvey, Bruce, or Alfred, but still she saw no one familiar to her.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen!" the man greeted the crowd as he made his way in, shotgun still pointed for the sky. His men began to point guns at and frisk anyone they could reach.

"We are tonight's entertainment," he announced, taking a shrimp on a skewer and quickly shoving it in his mouth.

"I only have one question," he spoke as he chewed, "Where is Harvey Dent?" he asked in an assertive tone.

Anslee backed up a few inches and looked around the room for Harvey, but still she saw no one.

The room was filled with silence as the man walked around the room. He even took a glass of champagne and chugged it before setting it back on a table so he could keep antagonizing the crowd, going from person to person trying to figure out where Harvey was.

"You know, I'll settle for his loved ones," the green haired man spoke in the face of a man, that man she'd met earlier, Thomas Elliot.

Anslee's heart palpitated at the Joker's comment, but she couldn't run.

"We're not intimidated by your thugs!" Thomas spat in the man's face.

The joker was in the middle of another bite of shrimp when a large frown graced his face, "You know...you remind me of my father," in one swift move he had Thomas's head in is hold along with a knife to his face, "I hated my father!" The Joker growled angrily.

"Okay stop!" A voice all too familiar to Anslee interrupted the scene. She almost hadn't registered who it was before The Joker and the rest of the room turned to a tall woman in a blue gown.

"Mom…" Anslee muttered anxiously.

The Joker eyed Rachel, who had stepped forward, "Well hello, beautiful!" he shouted as he fixed his hair, walking menacingly towards Rachel, who had her arms crossed over her chest confidently, "You must be Harvey's squeeze. And you are beautiful," he spoke in a dark tone.

Anslee watched as Rachel's arms dropped from her chest and hung at her sides. Joker prowled around her, but Rachel refused to let him out of her gaze. Her shoulders tensed as Joker locked eyes with her.

"Well you look nervous," the man spoke, "is it the scars? Wanna know how I got em'? C'mere!" and just like he had Thomas Elliot, he had Rachel in a facehold with a knife to her face. Rachel squirmed in his hold, trying to get free.

Anslee didn't even hesitate before she cried out, "No! Stop!" in sheer terror.

The Joker paused and turned his head around his shoulder to see the seventeen year old everyone had moved away from. He noted how she trembled and saw this as an opportunity.

"Well well what do we have here?" the man let go of Rachel and prowled towards the girl.

"Anslee run!" Rachel called to her daughter, but saw she was frozen in place staring death in the face. Tears gathered in the mother's eyes.

"Oh I think I've hit the jackpot," the clown spoke as he got closer to Anslee, "You're Wayne's daughter, yes. I've read all about you. My God, you look even more like him in person. So gorgeous."

He now stood towered over the girl, his face just inches from hers, "Since you so rudely interrupted me, I think I'll tell you how I got the scars."

The man grabbed a hold of the girl's face and shoved the knife in her face. Tears ran down the girl's face as she tried to break free of his grip.

"Look at me," he demanded, "So I had a wife. Beautiful, like you," he spoke painfully as Anslee continued to struggle to get free, "Who tells me I worry too much. Who says I need to smile more. Who gambles. And gets in deep with the sharks. One day they carve her face, and we've got no money for surgeries. She can't take it!"

Anslee had her eyes glued to the blade in order to avoid the madman's gaze, but as he continued to speak, her dark brown orbs looked into his green ones. He stuck the blade in her mouth and pressed it against her cheek, but not hard enough to cut her.

"I just want to see her smile again! I just want her to know that I don't care about the scars!" he cried out. "So you know what I did? I stuck a razor in my mouth and did this to myself," he mimicked licking the inside of her cheek with his tongue, "and you know what?" he began to laugh, "She can't stand the side of me. She leaves. See now I see the funny side. Now I'm always smiling!" he got into a fit of giggles and Anslee took this as a chance to knee him in the gut, sending him backwards slightly as he groaned.

"Oooh, you've got a little fight in you," he chuckled as he gained on her again, "I like that!" he glared down at her.

"Then you're gonna love me," A dark husky voice spoke, making both Anslee and the Joker look over to see none other than the Caped Crusader himself.

The Batman quickly decked Joker, sending him backwards harder than Anslee had been able to. Anslee had jumped backwards, but still stood paralyzed as she watched the Dark Knight take out Joker's thugs.

Joker continued to throw more thugs at Batman while also giving him a few punches and kicks when he could. He'd even managed to produce a blade out of the toes of his shoes. Joker kicked Batman forcefully in the chest with the blade. Batman, in retaliation, punched him, sending the Joker to the ground. But he wasn't about to give up.

The green haired man quickly picked up a discarded gun off the ground and looked up to see a still petrified Anslee. He scrambled to his feet and came to the girl, wrapping an arm around her neck and holding her against him as he pressed the gun to the girl's head. Anslee pried at the man's arms around her neck as Batman threw off the last thug.

The Knight turned to look at the two, but inside, Bruce could feel anger surging inside of him.

"Drop the gun," Batman demanded as he watched his daughter struggle in the psycho's hold.

"Oh sure! You just take off your little mask and show us all who you are!" The Joker waved the gun in the air as he inched backwards, Anslee stumbling along with him as she looked pleadingly at the Dark Knight. He giggled as he shot the gun behind him, blowing out the window he stood in front of. Anslee cried out at the noise as her eyes filled with more tears.

Joker turned and dragged her with him before flinging her out of the ledge of the window, his grip on her arm was the only thing keeping her from falling.

"Let her go," Batman glared.

"Very poor choice of words," the Joker giggled before Anslee felt the grip on her arm disappear. She felt herself falling in the cool air of Gotham, but she soon hit a hard surface, landing on her already injured shoulder. She heard a crack on impact and let out an excruciating scream of pain.

She then started to slide down the side of the slanted roof and looked back up to see Batman had dove out of the window and and was sliding after her. She felt out her hand that wasn't attached to the arm that was currently throbbing in hopes he'd catch her in time. But to no avail, she slid off the side of the building and began free-falling off the side.

All hope was not lost, there was Batman right after her, reaching for her as he fell closer towards her. Within seconds he had managed to latch an arm around her waist and hold her close to him as they fell, making sure when they made impact that Bruce was the one to take the blow. Once they finally had hit a surface, which had been the hood of some poor guy's car, Anslee rolled off of the Dark Knight and next to him on the hood in a hyperventilating and teary eyed mess.

"Are you okay?" Batman looked to her.

"My shoulder!" Anslee cried out through clenched teeth as tears fell down her cheeks, her body visibly trembling.


	19. Windows

The five minutes it had taken Batman to get Anslee off of the car with him and to hold her up went by so quickly, it was almost a blur in the teens eyes. She was too focused on the excruciating pain in her shoulder to really register what was happening at that moment in time.

"Authorities have been contacted," the Batman growled in his gruff voice.

Anslee groaned as a sharp pain traveled down her back, "H-how did you know he'd be there?"

"I didn't," Batman responded as the doors to the front of the building where the fundraiser was being held opened violently.

Anslee looked towards the doors to see a frantic Rachel rushing out of the building towards where Batman stood with Anslee leaning against him.

"Oh my god, Anslee," the woman cried out as she made her ways towards her daughter, "I didn't know what happened, god, are you alright?"

Anslee went to open her mouth to speak, but her arm shifted at an uncomfortable angle and she let out another yelp of pain.

"Her shoulder is dislocated, but ambulances and authorities are on their way now," Batman's low voice answered.

Rachel looked into Bruce's eyes, knowing had this been anyone else he wouldn't have been so eager to assure safety for her.

Almost as if on cue, the sound of sirens could be heard just down the road and the city block was now filled with blue and red lights from the ambulance and cop cars that now lined the street outside. Anlsee felt herself getting dizzy from the hysteria going on around her, she barely noticed when Batman had handed her off to an EMT that exited one of the ambulances. She couldn't figure out why he'd always been there to save her. First it was the night that she got mugged, and now it was when Joker decided to throw her out the window of a twenty story building. How had he been able to be her saving grace?

Before she had any chance to say thank you, he was gone with the wind, as if he'd never been there in the first place.

The EMT had led her towards the ambulance where he could evaluate what exactly was wrong with her shoulder with Rachel on his heel to make sure her baby was okay. The man had sat Anslee down in the back of the emergency vehicle and began his evaluation on her. Meanwhile, Rachel stood next to Anslee, holding her daughter's hands in her own.

"Where's dad?" Anslee asked, looking everywhere but at Rachel.

"What were you thinking?" Rachel ignored her daughter's question.

"Where's dad?" Anlsee repeated herself, ignoring Rachel as well.

Rachel had paused, not realizing what Ans had said in the first place. It was more she didn't expect that sentence to come out of her mouth. Bruce. Where had Bruce gone? Obviously he had been the one to save their child under his caped alias, but she had expected him to appear again at some point clad back in his dress suit he'd been wearing at the party.

"I-I don't know," Rachel looked around again.

Anslee's eyes scanned the area around them, seeing people in their terrified states of what had just happened up in the penthouse. She didn't know why she so desperately wanted to see her father considering she loathed Bruce every other day of the week. Maybe it was everything they had built up over the last weekend and she just wanted to make sure he was at least still alive. He had disappeared when Joker showed up. As she looked around more, blocking out the words that the EMT spoke, she finally spotted her father amongst the crowd of people along with Harvey. Harvey looked very troubled and almost...angry. But not Joker Just Crashed My Fundraiser angry. It was more than that.

Rachel had noticed Anslee's gaze and followed it to see Bruce and Harvey as well, a look of relief washed over her again once the two men had approached them.

Harvey rushed to Rachel and muttered something to her, in which she looked back at him with a shocked look on her face. Whatever he'd just told her it wasn't good. But before she could ask what was going on, Bruce stood in front of her and blocked her gaze.

"Hey are you okay?" he asked her in a genuinely concerned tone as he looked his daughter up and down, thoroughly scanning her body for any type of cut or bruise she might have sustained from the fall since he couldn't exactly do so as the Batman.

"I'm...I'm okay," Anslee looked Bruce in the eyes, feeling a sense of peace come over her seeing as Bruce had found her, but her voice still shook as she finally registered what was going on and the pain she was feeling finally got back to her as she snapped back into reality, "I...my shoulder...I dislocated it when I hit the roof."

"And if you don't mind I'd like to put it back into place," the EMT gave both of them an annoyed look considering while Anslee was zoning out, she was a very fidgety person and made it impossible for the man to put her shoulder back into place.

"Oh god," Anslee groaned as she shifted in her seat, making another sharp pain travel itself down her arm.

"Hey hey, it's okay," Bruce assured her, reaching out to place his hands in her own, "Hold onto me, and squeeze my hands when he pops it back into place. You can scream as loud as you want no matter how much it hurts."

Anslee nodded and gripped Bruce's hand as the EMT placed his hands on the correct positions on her back and shoulder to pop it back into place. He looked at Bruce, who gave the EMT a nod to let him know she was ready. In one quick movement, the man pushed her shoulder back into place, earning a loud crack from Anslee's body. From Anslee's mouth came a loud and excruciating yell.

The girl squeezed her father's hands so hard, Bruce was sure his hands would have broken had she squeezed them any harder, He watched as tears gathered in her eyes and wanted to pull her into his arms and let her know he'd never let anything like that happen to her ever again. Bruce completely blamed himself for what happened to Rachel and Anslee tonight, and he felt such an immense guilt about it.

"Oh, Ans," Rachel walked forward and engulfed her daughter carefully in a hug as Anslee let the tears freefall down her cheeks and onto Rachel's shoulder where her head sat.

"Ma'am, we can take your daughter to the hospital if you think she needs it, but everything other than her shoulder checked out," The EMT spoke from behind Anslee.

Rachel looked back up at the man and shook her head, "She's been through enough for one night, I'll take her to the doctor if she gets any worse."

"I want to go home," Anslee muttered as tears continued down her face.

"We'll go home," Rachel rubbed the girl's back softly before looking to Harvey, giving him a look that said 'Go get the car.'

Harvey didn't argue and turned away to go and get the car that was parked in the parking garage across the street.

Rachel pulled away from Anslee and smiled down at her, "I'm glad that you're okay, and I want you to stay home from school tomorrow, okay?"

Anslee nodded at her mother with a tear streaked face, while Bruce studied the features on her face before she glanced back at him, "He got away didn't he?"

Bruce hesitated to answer her, afraid to feed her more disappointment, "He got away," he nodded.

"Bruce," Rachel placed a hand on Bruce's arm, "Judge Surrilo and Commissioner Loeb are dead."

Bruce's eyes widened at the statement, "What?"

"The card that Joker left behind at the last crime, he had three sets of DNA on it that matched with the GCPD's database. Surrilo, Loeb, and-"

"Harvey," Bruce interrupted her before glancing to Anslee and then back to Rachel, "I don't think your apartment will be the best place to stay tonight, Rachel."

"Bruce there isn't another place to stay, we can't stay in the Penthouse, he knows Anslee is important to you and I, he'll use that against us and it'll be one of the first places he'll go to check for Harvey since he'll be with me," Rachel interjected.

"The manor…?" Bruce suggested.

Rachel didn't speak as she thought about staying in the manor. She couldn't remember the last time she'd stayed the night there, it had to have been a number of years by now. Then again, the manor was probably more equipped to keep them safe than the apartment and the penthouse. Not being able to come up with a reason as to why that was a bad idea, she caved.

"We can stay in the manor for the night to make sure things die down for a bit," she agreed before glancing back at her daughter. She pulled Bruce away from where Ans was sat and was out of earshot, "But you need to stay with Anslee tomorrow. Harvey and I will be up to our necks in work with all of this plus we're still dealing with Laue. It's not that I don't trust Alfred to keep an eye on her, but she needs you right now more than anything."

"I can do that," Bruce nodded, but Rachel raised her eyebrows at him, "and I promise I won't leave her."

Rachel look back at Anlsee again, giving the girl a sympathetic look, "We need to go to the apartment to get things for the night, and then we'll head to he manor."

"Are you sure you don't want me to come with you guys just in case anyone shows up to the apartment?" Bruce asked.

Rachel looked back at him and shook her head, "We'll be okay, but I'll call you as soon as we're close to the manor."

Rachel had collected Anslee and took her to where Harvey pulled the car up while Bruce had gone back upstairs to let Alfred know they'd be heading back to the manor to keep Rachel, Ans, and Harvey safe.

XXX

About an hour later, Bruce had gotten a call from Rachel telling him that they were close to the manor.

Anslee had passed out in the backseat on the way there, which wasn't surprising considering everything that had happened that night.

It was 12:30 AM when they pulled up to the manor. Harvey turned the car off and popped the trunk so Rachel could get her and his bag out of the back. Anslee used hers for a pillow while she slept in the back seat.

Bruce had always been waiting outside for them to pull up. While Rachel got the bag, Bruce opened the door to the backseat and looked down at the slumbering seventeen year old. A small smile crossed his face before he reached down to gently shake her so she'd wake up.

"Ans, you're home. You need to wake up sweetheart," he cooed to her softly like she was five years old.

Anslee stirred and groaned at the disruption of her slumber. She opened her eyes slightly to see her dad above her and sat up, looking at her surroundings. She automatically remembered she had fallen asleep in the car on their way to the manor.

"Glad you could join us, why don't you head upstairs and and I'll take your bag?" he asked softly.

Anslee nodded tiredly and made her way out of the car. Bruce grabbed her bag and slung it over his shoulder. He turned to see the teen was already making her way up the steps of the manor. He could also see the silhouette of Rachel. Harvey, and Alfred in the doorway.

Bruce made his way up the steps and towards the four people who were now standing in the entryway.

"It was really kind of you to let us stay here after everything that happened tonight, Bruce," Harvey looked to the brunette man.

"It's my pleasure," Bruce nodded to him before looking to Anslee again, seeing she was dozing off as she was standing up.

"I think we should all head off to bed, it's been a long night for all of us," Rachel spoke up.

"I agree, why don't I show you and Mr. Dent to your room and we'll be off for the night?" Alfred insisted.

"I'll take Ans up to her room and get her settled," Bruce assured Rachel, who looked to their daughter sympathetically.

"Thank you, Bruce," Rachel smiled softly to the man before Alfred lead her and Harvey towards the main staircase.

Bruce looked back to Anslee, "Come on, kiddo, let's head upstairs."

Anslee nodded and began to walk up the stairs followed closely by Bruce. He wanted to be behind her to make sure she didn't black out or if she did he could catch her from falling to the ground and further injuring herself.

"Where were you?" Anslee's tired voice spoke lazily.

Bruce frowned slightly, knowing what Anslee was talking about almost immediately, "I...went to hide Harvey, that's who he came for. You see, Commissioner Loeb and Judge Surrilo were both on a sort of hit list tonight and so was Harvey."

"I kinda figured when he busted in and demanded the friends and family of Harvey," she looked back at him, "I just feel so stupid for putting myself in that position though...I shouldn't have spoken up the way I did...but he had mom," Anslee looked to the ground.

Bruce approached the teen slowly, "Anslee, you did what you thought was right. Even if it was incredibly stupid, you stood up for your mom, and I couldn't ask for more of a headstrong person to be my daughter," he spoke softly as he tilted her chin upwards so she'd look at him, "I'm sorry I couldn't be there to save you from him. You don't deserve to be put through something so traumatic at your age."

Anslee sighed before turning away from Bruce, making her way tiredly towards her room.

Bruce stood and watched her trudge away from him and mentally scolded himself. He was never there in time.

The man then followed his daughter down to her room at the end of the hall. When he entered, the light was still on, but Anslee was already in her bed under the comforter half asleep. Bruce set her bag down next to the door and walked towards the bed.

The man sat down next to his snoozing daughter. He ran a hand through her hair before reaching down to kiss the top of her head.

His aching body stood up and headed for the door again, turning out the light before he walked out of the room. He stopped in the doorway and sighed once more.

"I love you, Ans," he whispered into the darkness.

Bruce turned and headed down the hall towards his room so he himself could catch up on some much needed rest.

"I love you too, dad," a tired voice whispered into the darkness.


End file.
